When Character Meets Actor
by rosai-gryffindor
Summary: What if the magical world was real, living along side us as in the books? What if the character Harry Potter was real, and one day bumped into his exact double, the actor David Ranfurst whilst out shopping in London...? Read to find out!
1. Chapter 1

HPFF- When Character Meets Actor 

What if the world of Harry Potter was real? What if the wizarding community really did exist without us knowing, just as it does in the books? What would happen if the character Harry Potter were a real person, and one day bumped into his exact double, the actor David Ranfurst, whilst shopping in London…? Destiny reveals itself, secrets are uncovered, family is reunited, and powerful magic discovered…when character meets actor.

Chapter 1

Harry Potter, being a wizard of course, never went into the muggle world much. He was either at number 4 Privet Road with his Aunt's family, the Durgles, who hardly let him out, or at his friend Ron Weasley's house, which was in a wizarding area, or at Hogwarts, the school for witchcraft and wizardry that he attended for most of the year. Thus no muggles ever noticed him, and he never noticed the books.

The Durgles; Vernon, Petunia and their son Donald, never read books; the TV was so much more educational and time consuming, and they never even looked at a bookshop or library, let alone enter one, so they never noticed the books, either.

When the films started to come out, the title, 'Harry Potter and the something or other', freaked them out. ('Common name, don't you think?' Vernon muttered uneasily when he first heard it) and because the plot was to do with magic, they stayed well clear of the films and forbade Donald to go and watch them at the cinema. Not that he wanted to watch that 'trash', of course.

Thus the similarities between themselves and the characters Vernon, Petunia and Dudley Dursley, and the life of the character Harry Potter, went unnoticed. Even one of Harry's best friends, Hermione Granger, whose parents were muggles, was too busy with the magic world, set books, homework and going to Ron's house a lot over the holidays, to notice anything similar between the books and films of Harry Potter and her friend Harry's life.

So the similarity between the fictional character Harry Potter and the real Harry Potter went unnoticed to the magical community, the secret of the wizarding world remained unknown to the muggles; they didn't know that the Harry Potter books were based on true fact, that there really was a magical community living along side their busy little world.

It was the summer after the real Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts, and he was stuck at Privet Road as usual, hoovering for Aunt Petunia, and thinking gloomily of his friends together at The Burrow, having a good time without him. He finished his jobs an hour later, and moped around the house with nothing to do.

Petunia watched him from her position in the kitchen with an impatient sigh. Didn't her nephew have _anything_ to do except wander the house gloomily?

He passed the kitchen again. Apparently not. She sighed, thinking of what to give him to do. She didn't really have anything more for him to do around the house…

He had finally settled down in a chair by the window, and was staring out at the summer's day, when he heard his Aunt calling his name.

'Harry?'

_What now?_

He scowled, and unwillingly went into the kitchen.

His Aunt contemplated him for a moment, as if trying to decide something.

'What?' He asked, quite rudely.

Petunia seemed to make up her mind. 'I want you to go shopping for me,' she announced.

Harry's jaw dropped.

' Go- shopping? You mean you'll let me out?'

Petunia almost smiled at his surprise, but rearranged her face into a frown. He was acting as if they kept him locked in a cage in the zoo!

'Yes, I'll 'let you out' as you put it.' She said briskly. 'I need some food shopping, I'll give you a list and the money, you can go to London on the bus for the afternoon.' She crossed to the table and picked up a notebook, tearing out one of the pages.

Harry was still standing in the middle of the kitchen, staring at her.

'Well here you go.' She said, handing him the list and a twenty-pound note.

Harry took it, but didn't move. His Aunt was beginning to wish she had never suggested he go out; this attitude was beginning to annoy her. 'Go! Quickly, before I change my mind!' she snapped.

Harry jumped slightly. 'Yes Aunt Petunia!' he cried, and left the room for the stairs, grinning widely. He was not going to pass up on an opportunity to go to London without some wizard money. If he went to Diagon Alley, he could exchange it and go shopping for some decent clothes in the muggle shops. He was fed up of Donald hand-me-downs, and most of the wizard shops only sold wizards clothing.

Equipped with his wand, a jacket, wizard money, the list and twenty pound note, he ran down the stairs and outside. The nearest bus stop was at the end of the lane where Privet Road met the main road, but he had no intention of travelling by muggle bus. He knew Petunia was watching him through the window, so he pretended to walk up the road, putting his hood up to disguise him from the neighbours, until he was at a spot empty of occupied houses down a side road. Checking nobody was about; he took out his wand and stuck out his right arm.

BANG!

There was a puff of smoke and a pink bus which looked identical to the night bus (only not purple), appeared by the side of the road, screeching to a halt in front of Harry.

A woman who looked a lot like Stan Shunpike the conductor of the night bus stood in the doorway, beaming. 'Good day to you.' She said cheerily. 'Welcome to the day bus; emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. I am Shelly Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this afternoon.'

Harry stepped on board. 'I'd like to go to Diagon Alley in London, please,' he said, keeping his head low beneath the hood of his jacket so as not to be recognised.

'Rightio. That will be seven sickles.' Shelly replied, holding out a ticket box. 'We'll be there in three stops,' she added as Harry handed her the money.

Harry followed her down the centre of the bus and took a seat in the middle. He had barely grabbed hold of the handrail when the bus raced off dangerously at its usual high speed, unbalancing him slightly. He clutched on tight for the whole journey and was ready the next couple of times when the bus lurched at stops.

To his relief, the journey wasn't long; in ten minutes the bus was screeching to a stop outside The Leaky Cauldron, thirty minutes shorter than the muggle bus journey.

He made to step off the bus, and turned to say thank you to Shelly, but the female bus conductor was staring at him in curiosity. ''Av' I seen you before?' she asked.

'I don't think so,' replied Harry. 'Goodbye.'

'Bye…' she said distractedly as he stepped onto the pavement, taking down his hood. Shelly's eyes widened. 'I knew it! 'Arry Potter!' she exclaimed. But the bus took off at that moment and she fell back into the isle. Harry chuckled, and entered the wizard pub, making his way to the back yard and the entrance to Diagon Alley.

After exchanging his money at Gringotts, he returned to the muggle London and headed to the nearest main shops. He was surprised to find that at the second shop he went into, quite a lot of people were staring at him, and some said hi, rather nervously. Then at the counter, a boy in the queue behind him tapped him on the shoulder.

'Can I have your autograph?' he asked.

Harry stared at him in amazement, then looking puzzled, turned to the counter, as he didn't have a pen. The sales woman grinned at him and handed him a biro.

The boy held out a piece of torn paper. Harry took it and signed, 'Harry Potter,' before handing it back. The boy looked slightly disappointed for some reason, and Harry wondered how a muggle boy knew who he was. The woman at the counter kept smiling, and gave him a discount for no reason. Carrying his bag, which contained new jeans and t-shirts, he headed back out onto the street, only to be stopped by a couple of teenage girls.

'Will you sign our bags?' one of them asked, giggling, and held out a pen to him. Harry felt it would be too rude to refuse. He signed the bags, one after another. The first girl frowned, looking at her bag. 'Harry Potter?' she asked, confused, and her friend stared at Harry and asked, 'what's with the glasses?'

Harry shrugged, uncomfortable. 'Maybe 'cause that's my name, and I happen to wear glasses,' he replied.

Comprehension dawned on their faces. 'Ooooh, you're really in character today!' They cooed.

'Yeah…well nice to have met you, girls.' Harry finished, and left with an awkward smile. Something wasn't right; muggles knew who he was?

He was beginning to attract a small group of gawking, pointing followers, so he put up his hood uneasily, and ducked into an alleyway leading to a smaller street, to get away from the crowd.

David Ranfurst was out shopping for the afternoon. As usual, he was attracting staring fans and people asking for his autograph. He bore it patiently enough, until the crowd got too much for him. He was out for a fun afternoon, not a signing spree! Seeing a gap up ahead in the shops to the left, which he knew led to the main street, he put his hood up to disguise his face, and ducked into the alleyway, not seeing the other hooded boy coming the other way.

He bumped right into the other boy, knocking him to the ground. Recovering from the minor shock, he pulled his hood off, and politely offered a hand to the boy, who took it gratefully and let him pull him to his feet.

'Sorry about that, mate, I didn't mean to crash into you like that. I was escaping from the fans and wasn't watching where I was going,' he explained with a wry smile, and looked the boy in the eyes.

What he saw made him gasp. In the course of the fall, the boy's hood had fallen down, allowing him to see his face for the first time. He had black hair like his own, and exactly the same facial features, from the shape of the mouth and nose, to the almond-shaped eyes. The only difference between himself and this boy was that he had green eyes instead of hazel, and was wearing a pair of large, round glasses.

He stared in shock for a while, but soon became annoyed. This boy was going around London not only dressed like Harry Potter, but also looking a lot like himself. How dare he impersonate him with such ease and likeness!

'Who are you?' he asked him warily.

The boy's answer was not at all what he had expected.

'I- my name's Harry Potter.'

_888_

Harry accepted the boy's hand gratefully. He was feeling annoyed at the way the day was turning out.

'Sorry about that, mate, I didn't mean to crash into you like that. I was escaping from the fans and wasn't watching where I was going,' the boy said kindly.

Harry made to reply, but looked into the boy's face for the first time.

It was like he was looking at a reflection of himself, but with minor differences. The boy had the same face features as himself, and the messy black hair, but he wore no glasses over his almond shaped eyes, which weren't green like Harry's, but a dark hazel.

The boy seemed as surprised as Harry at their similarity, and Harry could understand him being as shocked as himself at the resemblance, but the boy suddenly seemed annoyed, which Harry thought was uncalled for.

'Who are you?' his double asked in a wary voice.

Startled by the sudden mood change, Harry was quick to answer.

'I- my name's Harry Potter,' he stammered, feeling very confused. His puzzlement was only increased as the boy started to laugh.

_888_

David couldn't help laughing; the act was so cleverly done. Harry Potter indeed! Well that was obvious by the outfit, he supposed, but to actually say that was his name!

'Harry P-Potter!' he spluttered between laughs. 'Great acting, mate! You could cover for me sometime…' he trailed off at the look on the boy's face, which looked dead serious, and very confused.

'No, really, that is my name.'

David laughed again. 'Yeah right! And I suppose you have a best friend called Ronald Weasley, too!' he joked. Honestly, how much longer could this guy keep up the act?

'Um, yes, actually, I do have a friend called Ron Weasley,' he replied.

David stared at him, his laughter dying for the moment. Was this so called 'Harry' guy mad enough to really think he really _was _Harry Potter. He certainly seemed serious enough.

He looked into the boy's vibrant green eyes, and felt power and truth blazing out at him. His gut feeling told him to believe that the guy before him really was Harry Potter. Yet his head argued with him; told him that it was impossible. This was just someone pretending to be Harry Potter.

Something stupid made him say, 'where's your wand then?' and he immediately regretted it.

However, the boy reached into his back pocket and pulled out a shiny, polished stick, not unlike the prop wand he used in filming. _A fake, of course_…David thought with some doubt.

The boy stared at him, green eyes blazing. David could feel the anger coming from within the boy at not being believed. Gold sparks flew from the end of the stick.

He gasped.

The boy who looked so much like himself re-pocketed his wand, then stared coolly back at him.

'You really are Harry Potter, aren't you?' David asked in an awed voice.

_888_

Harry stared at the boy as he burst out laughing, then frowned. What was so funny about his name? And what was he on about; acting, and covering for him someday?

'No, really, that is my name,' he replied, now totally confused.

The boy laughed again. 'Yeah right! And I suppose you have a best friend called Ronald Weasley, too!' he asked, as if it was a joke.

Harry was seriously worried now. How did this boy not only recognise him, like all the other muggles seemed to, but also know about Ron? There would be hell to pay if the secret of the wizarding world was out.

'Um, yes, actually, I do have a friend called Ron Weasley,' he replied uncomfortably.

The boy looked at him, and their eyes met. Harry could tell that the boy still thought him a fake, and felt annoyance and anger; he had no right to disbelieve him and laugh at him when, except for the eyes, they could be identical twins.

He continued to stare, the truth blazing out of his eyes, and was glad that his intense, angry glaring was making the boy seem uncomfortable. Maybe he would believe him now.

The boy broke the gaze and looked awkward. 'Where's your wand, then?' he blurted out, then immediately looking as if he regretted opening his mouth.

Harry smirked and put his hand in his pocket, drawing out his wand. The boy was looking at it doubtfully, but with some wariness.

Once again, Harry felt angry at the boy's denial, and clutched his wand, forgetting that it would sense his anger. Gold sparks flashed out of the end, startling even Harry.

He re pocketed his wand and stared coolly back at his double.

The boy looked shocked and amazed. 'You really are Harry Potter, aren't you?' He asked in an awed voice.

Harry nodded. Finally the muggle boy believed him. 'Of course. Who else would I be?' he asked, baffled.

The boy shrugged his shoulders, causing Harry to roll his eyes. 'So who are _you_, then?'

It was only fair he should know the name of the boy who had thought him a liar and a fake, especially as they looked so alike.

The boy was silent a moment, and seemed to be contemplating something.

'My name's David Ranfurst,' he answered finally. Then he added a bit uncomfortably, ' I act, well…you, in the Harry Potter films.'

_A/N I appreciate reviews, they encourage my writing! So let me know what you think so far._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Harry stared at David in absolute shock. Had he heard him right?

'What do you mean?' he demanded in a scared voice, his green eyes wary.

David shuffled his feet uncomfortably, and ran his hand through his dark hair. How could he explain to Harry Potter that he was a fictional character, in other words, didn't exist, and that there were books written and films made about his life and the magic world?

'Um, well basically there's this author, who has written a series of children's books called Harry Potter. They start with his childhood at the Dursley's, and his first year at Hogwarts, and there are books on each of his, sorry, _your _years at Hogwarts.' David paused; sure that Harry would need some time to digest this news. He was right; Harry was looking very confused and thoughtful.

'Ok…so there are books written about me?' He looked at David, who nodded, looking him straight in the eye.

A panicked look came into Harry's eyes. 'Then the secret of the wizarding world is out?' he asked frantically. 'That can't happen! If the muggles know who we are-'

'Harry,' interrupted David, moving forward to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. 'It's alright! We don't know a thing about the magic world, the 'muggles' think it's all made up, only a clever and brilliant children's story. I'm as perplexed as you to find out it's all real!'

Harry relaxed under the comforting pressure of David's hand. 'Really?' he asked questioningly.

David smiled, 'Really.'

Harry looked thoughtful. 'You said that in the books, I stay with the Dursleys.'

David frowned. 'That's right. Why?'

'Only, my aunt's family isn't called Dursley. It's Durgle.'

David couldn't help it. He started to laugh once more. 'Durgle? The Durgles, not the Dursleys? That means your cousin's name is Dudley Durgle!' He looked at Harry, who nodded.

' Ha ha! That's hilarious.'

Harry couldn't help but grin and join in. 'I know…it's a ridiculous name! Only it's not Dudley, my cousin's name is Donald!'

David doubled over in stitches. 'Donald- Durgle!' he spluttered.

Harry, although he was used to the sound of his cousin's name, had to admit that it did sound very funny. And David's laugh, that was so like his own, was infectious.

When the two boys had finally calmed down, Harry had a sudden thought.

'If the names are different for the Dursley's, what other differences are there? And if _we_ look alike, do all my friends and everyone in the books have a double in the muggle world?'

Dan ruffled up his already messy hair, reminding Harry strongly of when he had entered Snape's pensive and seen his sixteen year old father.

'That's a good thought. You'd have to read the books to find the differences. Tell you what, we could go to a bookshop and I can show you them now.'

Harry grinned. 'That would be great!'

David was about to grin back, but he suddenly frowned. 'Hang on, we can't go out together into public, I always attract an annoying bunch of fans, and it seems you had the same problem. Plus, there'll be a lot of press attention if people see there are two of us!'

Harry's smile faded. What David said was very true. Then his face brightened again. 'We could disguise ourselves!' he suggested.

Five minutes later, a boy with messy sandy coloured hair, and a handsome girl with long black hair entered Waterstones bookshop. The sandy haired boy was grinning as if trying to contain his laughter, but the girl was scowling, cheeks pink from embarrassment and annoyance. 'I can't believe you turned me into a _girl!_' David hissed to Harry. 'I even have breasts! Why couldn't I just have different coloured hair, like yours!'

Harry choked back a laugh and tried to keep a straight face. 'Because the spell I used was to change your appearance! The caster has no control over what it decides to change! Besides…you make a very sexy girl, David!'

David scowled even more, and hit Harry's arm.

'Ow!' Exclaimed Harry, but he glanced at David out of the corner of his eye, and saw his new friend had a slight smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

'So where are these books then?' asked Harry, deciding to be nice and stop the teasing.

'Should be somewhere over here between the children's and the young adult's section,' David replied. He made his way through the shelves to a section near the back. Harry followed.

'Here we are…Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone.' He took a red and blue paperback off of the shelf and handed it to Harry. 'This is the first book.'

Harry turned to the first page. 'Chapter 1,' it read, 'The Boy Who Lived.'

A shiver went down his spine as he quickly skim-read the first few chapters. It was very strange, reading a book about your own life, despite the small differences. Someone must have been watching him very closely to know the whole story.

'Well?' asked David, as Harry shut the book and put it carefully back on the shelf, as if scared of it.

'It's practically identical to my life story,' he answered quietly. 'There are a few minor differences, but mostly the story is correct.'

He moved to the shelf and picked up the next book, a light blue and green paperback entitled 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.' The same went for this book. He moved onto the next, and the next, glancing quickly at each chapter to get the gist of the writing. His heart clenched as he read a chapter in the latest book, in which Sirius fell through the veil to his death, and shut the book hurriedly, feeling very weak and strange.

'Are you alright, Harry?' asked David in concern. 'Only you look as if you've seen a ghost.'

Harry nodded. 'I'm fine,' he said firmly, pushing away the grief welling inside him, and the feeling that reading the books had left him with. He took a deep breath. 'I just need some fresh air…how about we find a café and have a coffee or something?'

David was still watching Harry in concern, but didn't push the matter further. 'Ok,' he agreed. 'There's quite a nice one upstairs.'

The two boys sipped their coffee in silence, both thinking over the morning's strange events. Harry had a bit more colour back in his cheeks, and was already thinking of what to do next.

'David,' he asked suddenly, 'do you have any pictures of characters from the films.'

David flicked back his long hair and smiled. 'I do, actually.' He took out his wallet, and extracted a photograph from one of the clear fronted pockets.

'This is a picture of me, with Emily Wandon and Ray Grent. They play Hermione and Ron in the films.'

Harry took the photo eagerly, but his smile faded as he took in their features.

'Do they look identical to Ron and Hermione?' asked David.

Harry shook his head. 'No, not identical… I mean, Ron has red hair, of course, just like your friend, but his facial features are completely different and Ron has more freckles. And apart from Emily's hair being curly and brown, she's completely different from Hermione.'

David took the photo back, slightly disappointed. 'Then bang goes the theory that everyone in your word has an actor double,' he replied. 'It must be just you and me for some reason.'

Harry was looking thoughtful again. 'This is really strange, you know,' he said in a low voice. 'I don't think it's right that there are books about me, and I think it's a mystery how identical we look. I have a very uncomfortable feeling about the whole situation.'

David nodded. 'I know what you mean. But what can we do about it?'

Harry looked casually around the café to make sure nobody was listening, then leaned closer to David. 'I think we should go and see Dumbledore,' he said quietly, looking him honestly in the eyes.

David's eyes widened. 'See- Dumbledore?' he repeated in a whisper, not quite believing he was hearing this after having to say the same words many times himself in the films.

Harry sat back in his seat and regarded David with his deep, green eyes. 'Yes. We need to see Dumbledore,' he concluded in a firm voice.

The Day Bus lurched and zoomed its way across the country, the view out of the windows blurring into a mass of green and brown. Harry clutched the rail on top of the seat in front, he was getting used to the motion of the very fast bus. David however, had never travelled on the Day, or Night, Bus before, and had been very excited at first, in complete awe as Harry had stuck out his wand and the purple bus had appeared with a bang in front of them.

Now that they were sitting in the seats, however, being lurched about everywhere and nearly being thrown out of their seats, David began to dislike the ride immensely. He would just be seated comfortably again, when the bus would stop without warning and throw him to the floor.

'How do you stand travelling like this?' he asked Harry at one stop, after picking himself off of the floor for the fifth time.

Harry grinned. 'You get used to it!' he replied, not paying attention enough to hang on to the rail as the bus shot off once more, this time throwing him to the floor. He groaned and picked up his glasses, which had fallen off, and accepted David's help, allowing him to pull him back onto the seat, both boys now laughing.

'Hogsmede next stop,' called Shelly from up front.

'Thank Merlin for that,' said Harry in relief.

'Merlin?' asked David curiously.

Harry looked surprised. 'Oh, you'd say thank God in the muggle world. Thank Merlin's just a saying I've picked up. He was a legendary spiritual wizard, you see.'

The bus came to a sudden halt. This time both Harry and David were ready for it and managed to stay seated. They grabbed their bags and made their way down the isle to the doors.

'Thanks, Shelly,' Harry said briefly before stepping off.

''Av' a nice day, dears,' she replied with a grin. 'Hey, you'll never guess who we had on the bus this morning…Harry Potter!'

Harry hastily moved away. 'Is that so?' he asked without interest whilst David joined him on the ground.

'Yes! You see, he wouldn't tell me his name, but I knew-' The bus gave a lurch and set off with a bang, sending Shelly flying into the isle for the second time that day.

Harry chuckled, and David flicked his girly hair in annoyance as the wind blew it all in his face. 'Can I be me now,' he asked pleadingly. 'I don't know how girls manage with all this stupid hair.'

Harry grinned. 'Alright! There's no reason for disguise here…feichus revelio,' he said, tapping David on the head with his wand.

The long curly hair started shrinking and shaping itself back to David's short, messy hair, and his breasts disappeared to nothing under his t-shirt, revealing the normal, male David, with looks identical to Harry Potter.

Harry touched his wand to his own head, and his hair blended back to jet black, and his glasses to their usual round shape.

Once again, the two boys stared at each other, feeling as if they were looking into a mirror.

Hogwarts castle was quiet, and the grounds deserted. Harry felt a warm feeling rise in his chest as he stared up at the castle he had grown to love as a home. They were standing at the large, arched gates, and beyond the golden bars, the large green lawn stretched down to the lake and the Forbidden Forest, and the ancient walls and archways surrounding the castle lay ahead of the long, sweeping drive, which led up to the front doors. Harry could just make out the quidditch hoops sticking out from around the side of the castle, and had a sudden desire to be flying up in the air on his firebolt.

David stared in absolute wonder at the beautiful castle, and couldn't believe he was seeing it for real. It looked magnificent beyond all of his film sets and sights, even more so than the finished picture on screen. He also felt a strange, buzzing feeling close to his heart, as if the castle held a dear and comforting memory, although he had never seen anyplace like it before. Looking at Harry's face, he could see the same feeling radiating out from his smile and expression.

'How do we get inside?' asked David, breaking the spell.

Harry jumped slightly and turned to look at him 'Um, actually, I don't know!' he replied. 'I've never been here in the holidays before.'

There was no bell, or any means of notifying anyone that there was someone at the gates. Harry remembered someone mentioning using a patronus to send messages, and he knew that Hagrid would be around somewhere, as his home was his hut at the edge of the forest.

He took out his wand, and didn't even need to conjure up a happy thought; the feeling of being back at Hogwarts was enough. 'Expecto Patronum!' he said with confidence, and a transparent, glowing white stag seeped out of the tip of his wand, then slipped through the bars of the gate, and glided off towards the forest.

David looked at Harry in wonderment. 'Wow!' he breathed.

Harry smiled with pride. 'I love conjuring my patronus,' he said warmly.

David smiled back. 'You know, I've seen many special effects used for patronuses in my films, but nothing has come close to the real thing.'

Harry was about to answer when there was the sound of barking, and Fang appeared, bounding towards the gates. Striding behind him was Hagrid, his face beaming as he saw Harry at the gates.

'Harry!' he called in his deep, gruff voice. 'I couldn't believe it when your patronus turned up! What're yer doin' here?' He was soon standing behind the gates in front of them, dark hair and beard as frizzy as usual, black eyes twinkling, and sideways smile friendly. 'Who's yer friend?'

Harry stepped out of Hagrid's view of David. 'This is David Ranfurst…Dave, this is Hagrid!'

Hagrid's eyes widened in shock. 'But he- he looks the spitting image o' James! And if he had glasses, 'e'd look just like you, Harry.'

Harry looked serious. 'That's why we're here, Hagrid. We need to see Dumbledore.'

Hagrid nodded. 'Righ', righ', come this way then,' he said, and inserted a large key into the lock of the gate, and unbolted all five large bolts on his side, with the touch of his pink umbrella.

Dumbledore regarded the two boys with a calm and searching look through his half moon glasses. They had just finished explaining the situation to him, and were sat in chairs opposite his desk, arms folded in an identical manner.

'You were right to come to me, Harry,' he said wisely, blue eyes serious. 'There is indeed something strange going on. The matter of the books is not, at the present time, important. However you, and this young man who looks so very much like you, is I think, extremely important.'

'Why do we look so alike, Sir?' asked Harry.

'I have only my theories, Harry, and they may prove to be incorrect or correct.'

'And, what are your theories, Sir?' asked David.

Dumbledore smiled. 'I think, David, that you are a wizard.'

David stared at Dumbledore. 'But I'm not a wizard!' he exclaimed. 'My parents are both muggles, I didn't…' He paused, not quite believing he was actually going to say this… 'I didn't get a Hogwarts letter,' he finished lamely, feeling like a small child.

Dumbledore frowned. 'No, you did not get a Hogwarts letter. But there can be an explanation for that. And you should know that a wizard can be born into a muggle family…however, I believe this is not the case with you.'

David looked at Harry, who shrugged and gave him a small smile. Dumbledore gave him no chance to process what he had just said, by continuing with his theory. 'I presume, that having acted Harry in the films, and from reading the books, that you know quite a lot of spells and magic already?'

David nodded slowly. 'Well, yes, but that was just acting.'

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. 'Harry, your wand if you please.'

Harry handed the Headmaster his wand, wandering what would happen next.

'If you are indeed a wizard, David, then you will be able to perform magic with a wand.' He handed him Harry's wand. 'Try a simple spell that you know.'

David took the wand, feeling awkward, as it was Harry's wand he was holding, yet at the same time, couldn't help feeling a warmth spread through his fingertips.

Feeling foolish, he focused on a pen on Dumbledore's desk, waved the wand in the swish and flick movement of the levitation charm, and said, exactly as he had been taught on set, 'Wingardium Leviosa.'

To his complete and utter surprise the pen quivered, then rose into the air, hovering a foot above the tabletop.

A grin spread across his face, Dumbledore began to chuckle, and Harry applauded him as he lowered the wand, breaking the spell, causing the pen to fall slowly back to the desk.

'Way to go, Dave!' complimented Harry, causing David to feel very pleased.

'I thought so!' said Dumbledore. 'You're a wizard, David! My first theory was correct.'

David was looking at the wand in wonder. 'But, Sir, couldn't anybody do magic if they had a real wand and the right method and spell?'

Dumbledore shook his head. 'No, David, not just anybody. If a muggle did what you just did, nothing would have happened. Wands only work if you are a witch or wizard. Otherwise, there would be no muggles, everyone would be wizards!'

David looked thoughtful. 'So how come I'm a wizard, and why do I look like Harry?'

Dumbledore seemed more reluctant to say anything this time, and paced the study a few times before answering. 'To prove my next theory, I must perform the DNA spell on both you and Harry, if you are willing.' He looked at the two boys, and his eyes showed that he wanted them to agree.

Harry looked at David, who looked at Harry. David was looking confused, but Harry seemed calm. He shrugged, 'I don't mind, Professor.'

Dumbledore smiled affectionately at him. 'Thank you, Harry. David?'

'If it will solve the mystery, and my questions, then yes, I agree.'

'It will indeed answer all your questions, David, and most of mine,' replied Dumbledore, twirling a finger through his beard.

'Ok, then,' agreed David, running a hand through his hair again.

Dumbledore smiled. 'Very well. If you would both stand over here please.'

Harry and David got up out of their chairs and stood by the tall, wiry form of Albus Dumbledore. He took out a couple of glass phials from a cupboard, and a bottle filled with a clear, smoky liquid. 'Hold out your hand, please, Harry.'

Harry held out his right hand, palm facing upwards. Dumbledore took out his wand and placed the tip to Harry's palm, muttering an inaudible incantation. Harry gasped as Dumbledore removed his wand slowly, and attached to the end were a small bunch of enlarged skin cells, arranged in a star shape. Dumbledore moved the cells to the phial on the left, and muttered another spell, which caused the cells to drop off of the wand and float into the phial. Looking at his palm, Harry could see a faint, silver star shape where the wand tip had been pressed to his skin.

'David, your hand now, please,' asked Dumbledore. David held out his hand, copying what Harry had done. Dumbledore repeated the procedure with David's cells. He then took the bottle, and poured the clear substance, which was surprisingly thick looking, into each phial.

The cells floated to the top of the liquid, whilst the smoky substance began to whiz around and change colour. After about a minute, the whirling slowed, and the colour began to settle and become clearer. Both phials had turned a mixture of green and blue that was a colour neither Harry nor David had ever seen before.

Dumbledore's white bushy eyebrows rose slightly. He made a complicated movement with his wand above each phial, muttering another spell.

From the left phial rose two smoky numbers, 26 and 53. They shimmered, hovering above the liquid. From the right phial, two numbers also rose: 26…and 53.

Dumbledore waved his wand and the numbers disappeared. He turned to the boys.

'Please sit down you two,' he said in a serious voice.

Harry and David exchanged worried looks, but did as they were told. Dumbledore also sat down, and looked honestly into David's hazel eyes, which in the light of his office, were flecked with green. 'David,' he said gently, 'your Mother and Father were Lily Evans and James Potter.'

Harry gasped, and David seemed immobilised with shock. Dumbledore looked at both of them, his blue eyes pools of honesty as he stated, 'Harry, David…you're twins.'

_A/N: I appreciate reviews, they encourage my writing!_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Harry's first reaction was complete and utter shock. He stared at Dumbledore, speechless, as he truly didn't know what to say or think. Then he felt just pure disbelief, found himself almost laughing. But the serious face of Dumbledore and the expression in his eyes caused Harry's laughter to die. Anger took over his emotions at the apparently true statement; he had been alone all his life, lost all of his family, yet here was Dumbledore telling him that he had had a twin all along, living in the muggle world! Why had this gone unnoticed by everyone?

He looked at David and felt angry at him for also being his parent's son, for existing, living a happy life without all the strain and sadness Harry had gone through. He couldn't decide who to strike at first, Dumbledore or David, and didn't really care, he just felt like hitting someone, destroying something. His eyes slid to the tempting possessions on Dumbledore's desk, the perfect target for his anger.

Harry's emotions were nothing to what David was feeling. He, too, had been extremely shocked and surprised at first with what Dumbledore had said, especially as he had only just accepted the fact that the world of Harry Potter was real, and that he was a wizard. Now he was supposed to have a twin, Harry Potter himself. It was madness! Then his anger set in. Dumbledore was implying that David's parents weren't actually his parents, that two other people were, that his whole life was a lie. This could not be true! He would know if it were, as his parents would have told him he was adopted. If that was even what the mad old codger who calls himself Dumbledore was implying!

He looked at Harry. How dare he look like him! How dare he go out shopping and meet David, befriend him, then take him to bloody Hogwarts to see a mad old wizard! He felt extremely angry at both, and really wanted to destroy something. His eyes strayed to the many possessions on Dumbledore's desk; he'd love to smash them to pieces.

Dumbledore watched sadly the reactions both boys had at his words, and let them come to grips with their feelings. If the truth be told, he was feeling pretty puzzled himself. He would have know if James and Lily had had twins, given birth to not one boy, but two. Yet the proof was before him, both in Harry and David's similar looks, and in the two phials containing their DNA. He didn't blame the boys for looking so mad, upset and angry, it was a great shock for him, let alone them! However, the murderous looks they were giving each other, himself, and now the tempting possessions on his desk, was not called for. Dumbledore had had his office demolished by an angry Harry last year, and that had done enough damage. Now there were _two_ angry Potter sons in his office, he didn't know if his possessions would survive if they attacked!

He stood up before anything could happen, and leant both hands on the table, looking down at the two boys who were trying not to strike out. 'Harry, David,' he spoke gently. They turned identical angry glares to his face. Dumbledore sighed, feeling weary. 'Don't blame each other…it is neither of your faults that this has happened.'

David and Harry looked guiltily at each other, realising through their anger that Dumbledore was right. Relaxing slightly they still fixed him with an angry stare. It might not be their fault, but they had the right to be mad at Dumbledore.

'Good,' said Dumbledore, sitting himself back down, unfazed by their stares. 'Now, let us talk reasonably about this.' They opened their mouths to argue, but Dumbledore silenced them with a raised hand. 'Just, please, hear me out.'

Harry and David closed their mouths, and kept silent.

'Firstly, David, I am not accusing your parents of lying to you, or of not being your parents.' He looked into David's hazel-green eyes to see if he understood. David stared calmly back in answer. 'There may still be a logical answer to why you two share the same genes.' He said this to keep the peace, but inside, his mind was questioning, _like what?_

He turned to Harry, not letting the betrayal and disappointment shining in his green eyes get to his heart. 'Harry, I assure you I had no knowledge of this. As far as I, or anyone else knows, Lily only gave birth to you. It was as much of a shock to me as it was to you, to see the results of the DNA test.'

Harry nodded his head a fraction, now feeling slightly calmer. He could feel Dumbledore was telling the truth and that he was just as puzzled as Harry and David. Yet how could it be true?

'But Sir, we can't be twins!' he exclaimed, speaking for the first time since the shocking statement.

Dumbledore regarded Harry with his wise eyes, which were once more twinkling slightly. 'Is your thought more that you _can't_ be twins, or that you don't want to accept that you _are_ twins?' he asked calmly.

Harry didn't answer, but looked slightly guilty.

A clock on the wall ticked loudly in the silence. 'Is it really true, Professor?' David asked quietly, hoping that there could still be a different answer, yet at the same time, knowing that there wouldn't be.

Dumbledore smiled kindly at him, looking him honestly in the eyes. 'The DNA test is solid, David. Yes, it is true that you have the same genes as Harry.'

David looked at Harry, who looked at David. They had sort have suspected something like this all along really, had a hidden feeling that they were somehow connected; yet neither of them had considered that they might be related.

Harry gave a hesitant smile. It would actually be really nice to have a brother by blood after having no real family.

'So…we're twins, hey?' he said finally, now quite liking the idea.

David smiled back. 'Yeah, twins…this will take quite some getting used to!'

Harry grinned. 'You're telling me!'

Dumbledore chuckled quietly, and watched them accept the situation. He could tell that although they had accepted that they _were_ twins, they had by no means accepted _how_. He didn't blame them, seeing as he didn't really know himself.

Harry turned to Dumbledore, asking the question that the wise wizard knew he could not give an answer to. 'Sir, how exactly are we twins?'

Dumbledore sighed. 'I really do not know, Harry, but I mean to find out.' He paced the room once, stopping to stare out at the beautiful grounds.

'So what happens now?' David asked, looking thoughtful.

Dumbledore turned to him. 'I think I need to see your parents, David, and explain to them that you're a wizard.'

David looked alarmed. 'You won't tell them about Harry being real, will you? Or imply that I'm not their son…they wouldn't like that!'

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. 'No, I won't imply anything of the sort, don't you worry! But they must know that you are a wizard, and I must talk to them to see if I can shed light on the matter of your Potter genes.'

David nodded. 'Well that sounds ok I suppose…'

'What about me?' interrupted Harry.

Dumbledore regarded him thoughtfully. 'Your aunt sent you shopping, I believe?'

Harry nodded in confirmation.

'Do you have a list?'

Harry dug in his pockets and brought out a crumpled piece of paper, then handed it to Dumbledore, who looked down at it through his glasses, the lenses glinting in the sunlight streaming through the window.

'Hummm,' he muttered, and waved his wand. A couple of tesco bags appeared, filled with the contents of the list. 'Here you are, that will save you awkward questions. I will give you a portkey to behind the bus stop two roads away from Privet Road. I would send you directly to your house, but I believe Petunia wouldn't be very pleased if you suddenly fell onto her lawn.'

Harry took the bags. 'Thank you…Sir, do I have to stay at Privet Road much longer? Can't I stay with Ron at The Burrow?'

Dumbledore looked at him sadly. 'Not yet, Harry. You should know why by now. But I'm sure that Molly would be happy to have you as soon as possible, so be patient my boy.' He took out a coke can from a draw inside his desk and pointed his wand to it, murmuring 'Portus.' The can glowed gold for a few seconds before dimming to its normal red colour.

'You will let me know what happens, Professor?' Harry asked as casually as possible.

Dumbledore picked up on his frustration despite his calm tone. 'I will send you an owl straight after the visit with Mr and Mrs Ranfurst,' he replied with a reassuring smile. 'Now, you must go, the portkey will activate three seconds after you touch it. Come here.'

Harry stepped around to the other side of the desk, holding his shopping bags in one hand. 'Bye Dave!' he said to his newly found brother.

David grinned. 'See you, Harry!'

He looked once more around the friendly office, sad to be leaving Hogwarts once again for the dullness of the Durgles.

'Good bye, Harry,' said Dumbledore warmly, 'I will see you soon, I expect.'

'Good bye, Sir,' replied Harry, smiling at both of them. He touched the can with his free hand. There was a slight pause, and then he vanished with a whirl of air, leaving David alone with Dumbledore.

There was a sudden silence.

David shuffled his feet and nervously ran a hand through his hair. He felt awkward without the reassuring presence of Harry. Then Dumbledore came out of his thoughts and smiled at David, and his nerves vanished. It was just like being on set, only without the camera crew crowding around.

'Forgive me, David, I sometimes get deep into my thoughts and forget the present,' he apologised.

'Couldn't you use your pensive, Sir?' David asked curiously.

Dumbledore was impressed by his knowledge, and couldn't help but smile. David reminded him so much of James when he was their age…with the personality of Harry. 'I could indeed use my pensive, David. However, my thoughts were merely musings and nothing more…not pressing enough for a pensive.'

David felt slightly disappointed; he had wanted to see how a real pensive differed to that in the books and films.

'Now,' continued Dumbledore. 'We should get a move on. Whereabouts in London do you live?'

'Chelsea…opposite the park,' he replied, then added somewhat anxiously, 'we don't have to get the Day Bus, do we?'

Dumbledore chuckled. 'Not the most comfortable way of travelling, I must agree with you…no, we will walk to Hogsmede, and then apperate.'

David looked even more alarmed at these words. 'Apperate?' he asked nervously. 'But I can't apperate…I'm only just a wizard, I haven't got a licence, I-'

'David!' Dumbledore interrupted his concerns with an amused smile. 'Haven't you heard of side-along apperation?'

David shook his head. 'No…'

'Well it's a form of apperating where one person guides another by taking him or her along with him. I will take you, you needn't do anything!'

David started to look interested, he hadn't heard of that in the books yet, and felt a slight thrill at the prospect of actually apperating for real. 'Well that sounds ok then!' he replied with a smile.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows slightly. 'Hummm. Indeed,' he said, smiling to himself, knowing full well that David would most likely dislike the sensation of apperating even more than travelling on the Day Bus. 'Then let's be off. It is a fair walk to the village as you know, and time is ticking by.'

_888_

Harry fell with a bump onto the hard, rough ground behind the bus station, the portkey (now only a coke can) clattering to the pavement and rolling away. An elderly pensioner innocently waiting for the bus saw the arrival through the transparent plastic shelter and after seeing a boy apparently fall from the sky, nearly fell into the road with shock. As Harry picked himself off of the ground, he gave her a nervous wave and she scuttled off down the road clutching her headscarf to her neck.

'Oops,' muttered Harry, retrieving the shopping bags from where they had fallen.

Hoping no one else had seen his arrival he brushed himself down and walked the last ten minutes back to Privet Drive, only to meet a furious Aunt Petunia standing in the doorway, her face flushed, and eyes livid.

'You, inside, now!' she breathed through clenched teeth. Harry entered the hallway hurriedly, wandering what he had done now.

It soon became apparent with the booming voice of Uncle Vernon drifting out from the living room, where he was obviously on the telephone. Harry listened with a growing feeling of dread, his aunt standing glaring at him with her hands on her hips.

'No, absolutely not! It must have been some other boy.' Pause. 'There is no other boy here, how many times do I have to tell you!' another pause, this time longer. 'Well even if there is, he certainly can't fly!' Pause. 'Ok, ok, yes he's my nephew! I apologise for his behaviour, he can't help himself, very disturbed in the head…yes, yes of course, it won't happen again… YES, ALL RIGHT! Good evening.'

The phone slammed down. There was a great stomping noise as Vernon left the telephone and entered the hall. His huge neck was bright red, and his drooping moustache bristling. Harry was strongly reminded of a very fat turkey. Vernon locked eyes with his nephew, and his eyes bulged.

'What is the meaning of this, boy?' he yelled.

'The meaning of what?' asked Harry, dropping all but his own clothes shopping on the floor.

'That was the police on the phone!' bellowed Vernon, spraying him with spit. 'Some old lady rang them with a complaint of, of _you_ falling from the sky and landing practically on top of her! Said you were crazy, a complete loony, rang the police, put in a complaint…and she wasn't the only one! Mr Hadock saw you fall from the sky to the field behind his house, thought he was hallucinating! Now EXPLAIN!'

Harry gulped and tried not to laugh. Petunia turned her beady eyes to him, demanding an explanation. 'Why didn't you get the bus like I asked you to!' she asked sharply.

Harry took a deep breath. 'I did get the bus…' he said, quite truthfully, thinking of the Day Bus. 'But I ran into trouble after shopping and had to go to Hog- I mean my school. Er, the headmaster gave me a portkey home, which is why I fell from the sky.' He knew telling the truth would madden his aunt and uncle even more, and not make the slightest bit of sense to them, but lying would have been much worse. Sure enough, they were shocked and even madder at the mention of his 'abnormality' demanding to know what the hell a portkey is.

'Um, it's a bewitched object that transports you to another place.'

Petunia and Vernon shared panicked, terrified looks. 'DO NOT SPEAK OF THAT- THAT RUBBISH IN MY HOUSE! THIS IS OUT OF ORDER, BOY, GET TO YOUR ROOM!'

Harry didn't need telling twice. He scrambled up the stairs clutching his shopping bags before they could comment on why and how he had managed to get himself clothes, and shut the door on himself before collapsing on the bed. He heard the lock click slightly afterwards and knew he had been locked in.

After waiting a few minutes to make sure that they wouldn't be bothering him any time soon, he went to his desk and pulled out a couple of pieces of parchment. Picking up his quill and dipping it in the in pot, he began to write two identical letters to Ron and Hermione.

'_Dear Ron,_

_You will never believe the day I have had…_

_888_

David and Dumbledore's arrival was much more successful than Harry's. They appeared quite discretely in the park opposite David's house, then made their way normally to his front door. David led the way with Dumbledore slightly behind him, and, feeling nervous, rang the bell.

The door opened and a tall woman with shoulder length brunette hair appeared on the doorstep.

'David, your home!' she said warmly. Then she noticed Dumbledore standing behind her son. 'And you are…' she added uncertainly, looking at his elaborate robes and long white beard.

David suddenly remembered his manners. 'Oh, of course! Professor, this is my mum, Rosemary Ranfurst. Mum, this is Albus Dumbledore.'

Rosemary stared at her son in disbelief as Dumbledore politely inclined his head to her. Had her son gone completely mad? Of course, she knew he acted Harry Potter, but to bring home a strange old man and claim that he's Dumbledore? He wasn't even the actor Matthew Gammon dressed in his Dumbledore costume; this man looked completely different!

David saw his Mum's worried expression, and knew that she thought he had gone mad.

'No, Mum, believe me, he really is Albus Dumbledore! I wouldn't believe it myself but…' He readied himself for saying the next bit. 'But I bumped into the real Harry Potter whilst shopping today, and he took me to Hogwarts to see Dumbledore as I thought it was strange that he was real, and he that there were books written about him.'

Mrs Ranfurst was beginning to panic now. Her son had obviously gone mad, was possibly drugged by this old man…or worse.

'Honey!' she said, agitated. 'Dave, are you feeling alright?' She turned to Dumbledore who was standing calmly to one side, waiting for the time to intervene. 'I don't know who you think you are, but you should be ashamed of yourself! Duping-'

'Mum! I'm fine! Seriously…' David interrupted, looking helplessly at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore stepped forward and looked calmly into Mrs Ranfurst's worried, hazel eyes.

'Madam,' he said quietly with his most clam and reassuring tone. 'I assure you your son isn't mad. Can we take this discussion inside?'

Rosemary swallowed loudly, her anxieties softened by his wise aura. 'Of- of course,' she agreed with a stutter, stepping out of the way to let them in.

'Thank you,' replied Dumbledore with a smile as he entered the house.

She shut the door behind them and led the way into a posh, comfortable living room. Without asking, Dumbledore sat in one of the armchairs. David followed his lead and sat in the chair next to him. His mother, however, remained standing.

'I want to know what's going on,' she demanded, crossing her arms and staring at them both.

Again, Dumbledore regarded her calmly. 'I am sure that this is a great shock to you, Mrs Ranfurst, your son bringing me home like this, but everything he has told you is the truth. I am Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The magic world exists, just as it explains in the Harry Potter books, living along side the muggle world without you knowing.'

Mrs Ranfurst found this hard to take in. 'Sorry, what?' she asked incredulously.

Dumbledore patiently repeated his words.

Rosemary sat down opposite them, finding she couldn't help but believe him. 'So, why are you here, telling me this? What's David got to do with the wizarding world?'

Dumbledore smiled. 'Because I have reason to believe that David is a wizard; he can do magic.'

Rosemary stared at her son. 'You can do magic,' she stated, almost to herself, not believing her words. It was all too strange for her. Her son basically _was _Harry Potter through acting in all four of the series so far, the public knew him as Harry, and here she was, mother to 'Harry Potter' sitting in her own living room with him telling her the wizarding world is real, and Albus Dumbledore sitting in her best seat.

Dumbledore took out his wand. 'Show your mother, David,' he said, handing it to him. David looked at Dumbledore, feeling unwilling to take the wand. He had felt awkward enough using Harry's, and this was _Dumbledore's _wand!

'Will it work for me?' he asked. 'I mean, it's your wand, not mine. At least Ha- I mean the one I tried earlier was suited to me.'

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. 'Try it,' he encouraged. 'You will be surprised at what you can do, even with someone else's wand.'

David's mother was speechless by now, but watching with increasing curiosity as her son took the wand.

David felt a tingle shoot up through his fingers as they closed round the well warn wood. He focused on a pen by the phone, and, as in the office back at Hogwarts, waved his wand. 'Wingardium Leviosa.'

Mrs Ranfurst gasped. The phone pen had lifted itself from the table, and was now hovering a foot or so above it, under the power of a wand that her son was holding.

Her shock soon turned to pride and amazement as she realised that all they had been saying was true. She turned to Dumbledore. 'How come he didn't get a Hogwarts letter if he can do magic?'

'That is why I am here, Mrs Ranfurst,' he replied. 'There could be various reasons, perhaps to do with circumstances at birth. Is it possible to see a certificate of birth, or any other papers to do with his identity?'

Mrs Ranfurst smiled. 'Of course, I'll have a look now…they should be on hand somewhere; I'm always having to show them to various people when Dave's called up for film work.' She left the room and they could hear her going up the stairs.

Dumbledore waited with a calm impatience. Whatever papers she had would explain everything.

David handed him back his wand. 'Your wand feels lovely to use,' he said, 'not as hard work as Harry's.'

Dumbledore smiled. 'Harry's wand worked well for you because you are twins, but even twins have different wands, no two wizards have the same. My wand is very flexible, I have taught it well, and have used it since my first year at Hogwarts. And I'll let you in on a secret…' He dropped his voice to a whisper. 'Harry's wand has a phoenix feather core as you may well know. My phoenix's feather. Voldemort's wand also shares a feather core from the same phoenix. Nobody except its maker and I know that the phoenix feather in my core also came from Fawks, in one of his many past lives. That is why you were able to use my wand properly.'

David felt honoured that Dumbledore had trusted him with such information. 'Then if I get a wand, will that have one of Fawks' feathers?' he asked eagerly.

Dumbledore looked suddenly grave, as if a shadow had passed over his face. 'I cannot answer that, David,' he said quietly.

The sound of footsteps interrupted the strange atmosphere, and Mrs Ranfurst appeared again, holding some papers. 'Here you are,' she said, handing them to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore took them expectantly, and shuffled through the pages to find what he was looking for, but there were no adoption papers. He frowned, and looked at the birth certificate, hoping to see details that would prove that David was Lily and James' son. His hopes fell fast as he scanned the details.

'David James Ranfurst,' the certificate read. 'Parents: Rosemary and Clive Ranfurst. Date of birth: Wednesday the 31st July, 1989.'

_A/N: Reviews greatly appreciated!_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Dumbledore stared at the papers once again, willing his eyes to read something other than those three lines that may suggest that David was Lily and James' son. However no matter how many times he looked them over, the information did not change. The only link he could possibly see was that David's middle name was James. That didn't help very much. If Rosemary and Clive Ranfurst were his parents, then having James as a middle name was insignificant. There was only one question buzzing round in Dumbledore's brain at that moment; how come David shared the same genes as Harry if Lily and James weren't his parents?

David and his mother watched the old wizard as he scanned the birth certificate again and again, his bushy white brows furrowing into a frown that seemed to get deeper every time.

'Is everything ok, sir?' asked David in concern.

Dumbledore abandoned his search of the papers and looked up at him, smiling to cover his confusion. 'Yes, yes, everything's fine, David.'

He turned to Mrs Ranfurst. 'Are there no other papers or anything else to do with his circumstances of birth that might explain Hogwarts missing him on the register of new born wizards?'

Mrs Ranfurst looked puzzled. 'Well no, not really…there's his passport, I can get that for you if you like…but I have no other papers for him.'

Dumbledore shook his head. 'No, no, I don't need to see his passport, these papers are enough.'

Rosemary sensed the disappointment in the wizard's tone of voice and tried to think back over her pregnancy and David's birth.

'There is one thing…' she began, and Dumbledore's eyes snapped back onto hers. 'It was about two months into my pregnancy that I discovered that I was pregnant, and I didn't have a check up booked until the following month. But before then…' she hesitated, as if the memory was slightly painful, but continued telling her story, 'before then I was in an accident. A very bad accident and I was quite badly hurt. The doctors patched me up, but they feared for my baby, said that it was certain that the accident would have resulted in a miscarriage, that it was unavoidable that the baby would be harmed. However, when I had a scan, when the nurses investigated, my little David was unharmed.' She broke off, tears shining in her eyes as she smiled at her son. 'They said it was a miracle,' she finished.

Dumbledore was quiet for a good long while, thinking over what Mrs Ranfurst had just said. Eventually he spoke, mostly to himself. 'A miracle indeed…magic, even.'

He came out of his thoughts and asked Rosemary gently, 'what time was he born?'

'Four o clock in the morning on July the 31st,' she replied affectionately. 'Three minutes past to be precise.'

At these words, Dumbledore raised his eyebrows and seemed to brighten. He remembered sitting in his office on that very date, waiting for news on the birth of Lily and James' son. He had been up all night waiting, and finally, at four minutes past four, Sirius' head had appeared in the fire and announced excitedly, 'Lily's had a baby boy! Born just one minute ago!' then he had vanished with a hiss of green flames.

Dumbledore suddenly felt his hopes return. David and Harry had been born at the exact same time and day. This coincidence was very unusual to come across. There might be some clue here somewhere as to the two boy's connection! However, he needed to justify to David's mother the reason why David didn't get his Hogwarts letter, and explaining about Harry was out of the question.

'Thank you, Mrs Ranfurst, that may have helped,' he said. 'I have come to the conclusion that David was missed on the register because another wizard was born at the exact same time as him. We do have a student at Hogwarts born at four in the morning on the 31st that year. With the confusion of two births, only one may have been noted.'

David looked closely at Dumbledore. While this made some sense, he could tell that there was something that the headmaster was not telling them, and that it probably had something to do with Harry.

Mrs Ranfurst, however, seemed satisfied by the answer and smiled. 'Well that makes sense then.'

At that moment, there was the sound of the front door being opened and she turned towards the hallway. 'Ah! Clive's home,' she stated as the door banged shut.

A moment later a man with David's black hair appeared in the doorframe. He stared around at the three in the living room, and especially at Dumbledore with his elaborate cloak and long white beard, and raised an eyebrow quizzically at his wife and son.

'Clive dear, guess what?' replied Rosemary. 'Our David's a wizard! Oh, and this is Albus Dumbledore!'

'It's true, Dad!' David confirmed, looking excitedly at his father.

Mr Ranfurst couldn't help it. He burst into laughter.

_888_

Ron was sitting at the kitchen table at The Burrow, playing wizard's chess with Ginny. The house was quiet, as Mr Weasley and their brothers Bill and Charley were all at work, the twins living at their joke shop in Diagon Alley, and Mrs Weasley bustling around the garden and yard outside the house somewhere.

'Knight to C7,' commanded Ginny into the silence, smirking as the chess piece moved onto the square where one of Ron's pawns sat. The knight reached the square, and smashed the pawn to pieces before taking its place.

'Hah!' Ginny exclaimed, and flicked back her long, red hair, looking triumphantly into her brother's blue eyes.

Ron stared at the board, then grinned. 'Castle to C7,' he called casually, and laughed at his sister's indignant face as the castle rammed her last knight off of the board.

'Hey!' she cried and looked helplessly at the board, where Ron's black pieces dominated the majority of her white ones. Then her eyes flashed comically. 'Right. You asked for it!' she said, a determined expression on her face, typical of a stubborn Weasley. Ron just laughed softly, waiting to see what Ginny would do next as her eyes scanned the board for a good move. Ron always won at Chess, he was the best in the family, but it didn't stop the others from trying, and watching them try was always amusing for him.

She was taking forever, just staring at the board. 'C'_mon _Ginny!' he muttered to himself, feeling bored.

At that moment there was a loud tap at the window, and Ron looked up to see Harry's beautiful snowy owl, Hedwig, perched on the windowsill, a letter in her beak, and amber eyes glowing through the dusty glass.

Glad for a distraction, he leapt to his feet and went to open the window. Ginny kept staring at the board, ignoring her brother's actions, sure there was a way to beat him yet.

Ron took the letter from Hedwig's beak, and stroked the silky owl on the back. She gave an affectionate hoot, then flew back into the sunny afternoon, a small white speck in the clear blue sky.

He opened the letter, and moved slowly over to the table, reading as he went. His eyes grew wide with shock and disbelief, then crinkled in laughter as he read the contents.

Ginny wasn't really bothered by what Ron was doing. She thought she heard an owl hoot, but took no notice, still searching the board for a means of overtaking Ron. Finally she thought she noticed a pattern without threat to her, and triumphantly sent her queen to attack Ron's castle, which was providing a major threat. 'Yes!' she exclaimed as the board became clearer. 'Haha Ronnie, I've got your castle!'

This would normally provoke a huge reaction off of Ron, especially with the use of his nickname, but there was no answer.

'Ron?' Ginny asked, looking up finally and seeing him with a letter.

'Harry's got a twin brother,' he said quietly with a touch of disbelief.

Ginny stared at him. 'What?' she asked sharply, her attention immediately roused. Ron looked up and met his sister's eyes. Wordlessly he tossed her the letter.

Ginny sank into a chair to read it, the sight of the familiar curly handwriting giving her a warm feeling, which was soon replaced by shock as she took in the contents.

_Dear Ron,_

_You will never believe the day I have had; I can hardly believe it myself. I'm not sure where to begin, really. It's not every day that you find out you have a twin brother, after all._

_It all started when my aunt sent me shopping, and the muggles seemed to know about me, asking me for autographs and following me about. I tried to escape them by ducking into a small street, but ended up bumping into another boy, who has the exact same looks as me! It was pretty freaky actually. He didn't believe I was Harry Potter, then when I had convinced him, told me he was the actor of _me _in films called 'Harry Potter'. We both thought this was very strange, so I took him to see Dumbledore at Hogwarts, where we found out that he is a wizard and has the same parents as me, Lily and James Potter! Much as I didn't want to believe this was true, it actually is, though even Dumbledore doesn't know how. _

_So now I have a twin brother. Actually, Dave is a great guy, and I'm sure we'll get along really well, but it has all come as a great shock to me. This is all confidential news of course; I don't know whether Dumbledore wants to tell people yet or not, so keep it to yourself, except perhaps to tell Ginny._

_To top my wonderful day off, Dumbledore sent me home via a portkey to the bus stop up the road, and it was just my luck that an old muggle lady saw me, and rang the police, who promptly phoned my uncle to ask why I was falling from the sky. You should have seen his face and neck when he got off the phone; all red and swollen like a turkey. He gobbled like one too…_

_So now I am locked up in my room once more. Please rescue me as soon as possible. I hope you are well and enjoying your summer so far. I have also sent this letter to Hermione, is she coming to your house any time soon? Say hi to your family from me._

_Love, Harry._

_888_

Hermione sat on her bed in her house in Devon and looked up from reading the letter Harry had just sent her. She had a thoughtful look on her face, and was not at all shocked with the news the letter had included. In fact, the one thing that went through her brain first was excitement at the mystery that Harry and this Dave were twins, especially as Dumbledore himself didn't seem to know how or why. As she didn't know the main details of the situation, she couldn't do much by way of thinking, but immediately sent her owl to Dobby at Hogwarts to request a selection of books from the library, which covered DNA, magic and spells involved with twins, and the science of wizard twins. Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pince, the librarian, had given her permission to borrow books from the library over the holidays by using owl delivery. Dobby had been only too eager to be her personal 'librarian' and 'post elf'.

Hermione's next thought was the fact that Harry's twin was a muggle actor, of the 'Harry Potter' films. She kicked herself for being a muggle herself yet never noticing that there were films about one of her best friends. Could these films be based on books? Most likely. She resolved to go into town as soon as possible to investigate, and buy the books if there were any.

Having thought all this through, she looked around her cosy bedroom and decided to reply to Harry before dinner, he must be feeling awful cooped up in Privet Road, especially since his aunt and uncle are mad at him. How could Dumbledore have been so careless as to send Harry by portkey to a muggle-inhabited area? Despite the seriousness of the situation, however, she couldn't help but laugh, Harry had a great sense of humour in general, and describing his uncle as a turkey was a typical example of it. She couldn't imagine the feelings that must be going around his head at discovering that he has a twin after all these years alone without any blood family, and felt extremely happy for him. With this thought, she slid off the bed and padded barefoot across the soft carpet to her desk, taking out parchment and quill from her stationary draw, and beginning to write.

_888_

Once again, the phone pen hovered in the air under the power of David's spell. He waited a moment, then let it lower to the table, and dropped it back in place.

'You really are a wizard then, David my boy,' Clive stated with astonishment and pride. 'Well who'd have thought! Always knew there was a reason why you should try out for Harry Potter.'

David handed Dumbledore his wand back for the second time that afternoon, having just had to prove to his father that the magic world was real. He grinned as Mr Ranfurst ruffled his hair affectionately, and wriggled away from his father's arm.

'So what happens next, Professor?' he asked curiously, turning to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore smiled. 'Well you have a place at Hogwarts of course, and are more than welcome to join the school in September.'

David looked astonished and was about to answer when his father cut in. 'But he can't go away to school, I absolutely forbid it. David has a very successful career already with his acting, and there are still more Harry Potter films to go! All that hard work just can't be wasted, he was born to act!'

David's face fell at these words, and his mother looked sympathetic but seemed to agree with her husband.

Dumbledore didn't seem concerned by their answer and looked at David, his blue eyes twinkling. 'David, could I have a word with your parents alone, please?'

David nodded. The headmaster's eyes seemed to give the message, 'trust me,' and he felt that Dumbledore had the situation well in hand. He left the room and shut the door, going to sit on the bottom step of the stairs to wait.

Dumbledore waited until the door shut behind him, then turned to Mr and Mrs Ranfurst and began to speak calmly.

'Now, I understand that David's acting is an extremely important part of his life, both to you, and him. I know that it would be asking a lot to request that you let him stop acting, and attend Hogwarts.'

Clive opened his mouth to speak, but Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, still keeping his tone of absolute wisdom and calm.

'However, being a wizard is very rare. If he had got his letter at the age of eleven, you would have in no doubt let him go. It is a special gift, to be able to do magic, and Hogwarts is a first class school. It would be a great opportunity for David to attend the school, where he would learn to be a fully trained wizard, and experience a whole new community. You must be able to at least guess, if you do not even already know, how useful it would be to have a wizard in the family, and also how useful it could be for David in his life. There are only two more years at Hogwarts for him, having missed out on the first five, and he could return to his life and career of acting after that if he wishes, although there are extremely well paid jobs within the magical community, which could earn him the same, or even more money than he gets from his acting at the moment.'

Throughout his speech, David's parents had listened quietly and carefully. They could not help it, the powerful wizard's voice was so intriguing and spoke such sense, calming their initial reaction to their son giving up acting.

'I do not force you to let him go, that is in the end your decision only, but I do ask this of you. Think of David and what's best for him, not just what is best for you. Consider the matter very carefully. There will be plenty of opportunities for him to act in the future, but never again the opportunity to go to Hogwarts and learn magic. He may be to you and the muggle world _the_ Harry Potter, but you mustn't forget that he is not. He is David, and is his own person. Listen carefully to what he wants in life, and give him the chance to be himself.'

The Ranfurst's were completely silenced by Dumbledore's final words. They felt guilty for rushing so hastily into a negative decision.

'Talk to David,' Dumbledore suggested kindly, 'discuss the matter together. Now, I must go, but I will talk to David briefly before I leave.'

He got up from the comfortable armchair and crossed to the door before entering the hall, seeing David sitting with his head resting in his hands on the bottom stair. He looked up when Dumbledore appeared, and seeing the wizard's smile, knew that the talk had gone well.

'Come for a walk, David, the park looks most refreshing this afternoon,' Dumbledore suggested, and David stood up, thinking that after the day's events that would indeed be refreshing. He obediently followed the old wizard out of the front door, and breathed in the fresh air.

They walked along the road to the gates of the park, and followed the tarmac path through the green grounds. A cool breeze rustled the leaves on the trees around them, and the air was filled with the faint hissing from the leaves and the sweet sound of birdsong in the silence, which was broken only occasionally by the sound of a car passing on the road.

Dumbledore turned to David. 'Your parents will reconsider their decision, and talk it over with you. What is your opinion on the matter?'

David frowned. 'I don't really know…I mean, I'd love to go to Hogwarts, get to know Harry better, meet his friends and learn magic, but then there is my acting career. Everybody knows me as Harry Potter, they don't expect me to stop acting him, and the film company would find it very hard to find a replacement that would be the part as well as I am. The public and fans would be in uproar. I'm not sure if it can be done.'

Dumbledore stopped walking, and stood in front of David, looking him straight in the eyes. 'David, you are not Harry Potter. You are your own person, who can do as he likes. You also happen to be Harry Potter's twin brother by some mysterious way, and family is the most important thing in the world. Harry has never known his true family. To find you, and then lose you again would break his heart. And he is your brother; you should get to know each other. That aside, you would love Hogwarts, have great fun there, and it would give you a great opportunity in life. You can act all you want after the two school years that are left and return to your muggle career, but with this, you will never get the opportunity again. I'm sure something could be arranged about a replacement actor if necessary, and if not, that is not your problem to worry about. People move on, you are allowed to move on. But whatever your decision, you must follow your heart, David.'

David knew all that Dumbledore was saying was true, and his heart was definitely telling him to go to Hogwarts with Harry. However, there were still the realities to think about. 'Thank you, Sir…may I have some time to think about it?'

Dumbledore smiled. 'Of course David, I will give you a week to decide, is that all right by you?'

David nodded and smiled back. 'That will be perfect, Professor.'

'Good! I will send you an owl in a week's time to hear your decision. Now, I really must be going, so I will say goodbye now.'

David smiled and shook the old wizard's hand, which felt leathery and lined with the scars of time. 'Goodbye Sir.'

Dumbledore chuckled. 'Goodbye David' he replied, then turned on the spot and vanished with a swirl of scarlet, starry robes, leaving David staring thoughtfully at the now empty path in front of him.

_A/N: All reviews appreciated!_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Burrow's back door banged open and Ron and Ginny stopped talking abruptly as Mrs Weasley walked into the kitchen, Ron quickly stuffing Harry's letter in his pocket.

'What are you two up to?' asked Molly with a frown.

'Nothing Mum,' replied Ron, a little too quickly. Mrs Weasley pursed her lips and stared at her youngest son suspiciously.

Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes at her brother. 'We've been playing chess,' she said casually, pointing to the remains of the game, which was scattered all over the table. 'I was just beating Ronnie when Harry sent a letter.'

Ron turned to Ginny in shock, mouthing 'no!' and clearly thinking that she was going to tell their mother all about Harry's new found twin brother.

The youngest Weasley just ignored her brother's goldfish impression, and continued calmly, a slight smirk on her face. 'He's in trouble with the Dursleys again.'

Mrs Weasley's expression immediately softened. 'Oh the poor dear. Is he all right? Are they treating him badly?' she immediately launched into a rush of concerned questions, forgetting Ron's guilty answer immediately. 'We must invite him to stay, get him away from that awful place as soon as possible.'

She bustled over to the sink to wash her hands. Once her back was turned, Ginny looked at Ron and grinned with an expression that read, 'aren't I good?'

Ron smiled back sheepishly, mouthing, 'sorry!'

Ginny tossed back her sleek red hair, and sat down at the table. 'Can I help you with anything, Mum?'

Mrs Weasley looked round absentmindedly. 'Humm? Oh, no Ginny dear, you continue with your game of chess, or whatever you want to do.'

Ginny stood back up again. 'Ok then, I'll be in my room if you need me.' She looked at Ron, and silently gestured for him to follow, then headed towards the stairs.

'So can I ask Harry to stay then?' Ron asked Mrs Weasley hopefully, noting Ginny's gesture and needing to know this so they could write back to Harry.

His mother turned to him and smiled. 'Of course you can! Tell him we'll pick him up on Friday, ten o clock sharp.'

Ron stood up, and hugged her briefly. 'Thanks Mum,' he said warmly, then followed Ginny up the stairs.

_888_

David entered his house again just as Rosemary was putting dinner out on the table. 'Ah, Dave honey, you're back. I was just about to phone you to see where you were.'

David smiled and sat down next to his father at the table. 'I was saying good bye to Professor Dumbledore, then took a walk round the park to sort my thoughts out,' he replied, waiting to see his mother's reaction.

She put the last plate of food in Clive's place, and sat down at hers, looking at her son across the table. 'Yes, you must have a lot of things going around in your head. I know I have…'

She picked up her knife and fork, and started cutting up her lasagne.

Clive, who had been silent up until now, swallowed a mouthful of food, and looked honestly at David. 'We need to know, son, what you think about giving up your acting and going away to Hogwarts.'

David, who had been thinking deeply about this since Dumbledore's departure, had already made a decision. There wasn't really a choice to be made. 'I've decided that I want to go to Hogwarts,' he said finally, looking his father in the eyes. 'It is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, and will only be for two years. Acting I can do anytime, can return to it afterwards, but never again will I be able to go to a school to study magic, and become a wizard.'

'_And get the opportunity to get to know my twin brother'_ he added silently to himself, knowing that his destiny now lay alongside the boy who looked so like him; Harry Potter.

Mr and Mrs Ranfurst looked at each other, then at their determined son, and smiled sadly. 'We want the best for you David,' said Rosemary sincerely, 'and if that is what you wish to do, then we will support you all the way.'

Mr Ranfurst nodded. 'If this is what you have decided though, you must explain to the film company why you will no longer be acting for them. If you can persuade them to let you go, then you are free to go to Hogwarts.'

David's hazel eyes suddenly lit up with happiness, the green flecks in them gleaming brightly. 'Thank you, Dad, thanks Mum, you're the best!' He had never expected them to agree, Dumbledore's words must have worked magic.

Mr and Mrs Ranfurst couldn't help but smile at their son's happiness. It was rare to see his eyes turn emerald green, which seemed only to happen when he was at his ultimate happiness.

'The supper's gone cold!' remarked Clive, turning back to his meal.

David took a mouthful of his own and grimaced.

Rosemary smiled, her bright hazel eyes twinkling. 'Never mind. Hand it over and I'll heat the whole dish up again.'

_888_

Hermione woke early the following morning, and decided to get herself some early breakfast. She sat at the kitchen table in her pyjamas, with a glass of orange juice and a bowl of cereal in front of her, contemplating Harry's letter and glancing through the Daily Prophet.

There wasn't much going on in the wizarding world, as far as she could tell. People were still worrying about Voldemort, the ministry was still under bombardment over the innocence of Sirius and how he managed to die on ministry premises, and there was still argument over the state of both Dumbledore and Harry's minds.

'Nothing new there, hey Crooky?' she crooned to her fluffy ginger cat, Crookshanks, who sat curled up on her lap.

There was a noise on the stairs, and Helen Granger appeared in the kitchen, bushy brown hair as untameable as her daughters, but unlike Hermione, already dressed for the day. 'Morning darling,' she said with a smile, and kissed the top of Hermione's head. 'Any news from the magic world?'

'Nope. Not anything new, anyway,' replied Hermione, rolling the newspaper back up. 'But I got a letter last night from Harry.'

Mrs Granger immediately sensed the tone of concern in her daughter's voice and frowned. She knew how close he and Ron were to Hermione. 'Is he ok?'

'Yes, he's fine, don't worry Mum, but he's just discovered that there are books written about him in our world, children's fiction books. Not only that, but there are films made of the books. Ever heard of David Ranfurst?'

Mrs Granger nodded. 'Yes, of course, he's often in the news…a teenage actor, isn't he? What about him?'

'Well he's Harry's twin brother. Only nobody knew about it, and not even Dumbledore knows how or why they are related.'

Helen sat down beside her daughter and stroked Crookshanks' furry back. 'That must have been hard on Harry,' she sympathised.

'I know…but he's taking the news very well. Apparently David's really nice.'

'Well that's something, then! But I can see you're still bothered by something. You want to be able to help solve the mystery, don't you?' Sometimes Helen just knew her daughter too well.

Hermione smiled, glad that her mother understood how she was feeling. 'I just can't believe that I live as a muggle half the year, yet have never noticed there are books and films about one of my best friends,' she said in frustration. 'I think I need to see them to understand more of what is going on.'

'Why don't I take you into town this morning for you to see for yourself,' suggested Helen with a smile, interpreting Hermione's casual hint.

'Would you?' asked Hermione, her eyes lighting up.

'Of course!' replied her mother. 'If you hurry up and get dressed we can be there by ten.'

Hermione didn't need telling twice. She pushed Crookshanks gently off her lap and ran upstairs, calling a quick 'thanks mum!' over her shoulder.

Helen laughed softly and put on the kettle. Hermione would do anything to help her friends. They were lucky to have her.

_888_

'What do you mean you're giving up acting?' David's manager stared in disbelief; sure he had misheard the young actor's words.

David sat facing his manager across the desk, and immediately knew that he would have a hard time convincing him that he was no longer prepared to act Harry Potter. His attempts to persuade the manager were already failing, and he'd barely been there two minutes!

'I mean that I've decided that I want to give acting a break for a couple of years. I have been offered an excellent opportunity to go to a top boarding school, and just can't refuse the offer.'

'But, but you can't give up acting! David, you're Harry Potter! We could never get anyone to replace you!'

'I know, and I'm sorry. But I am not Harry Potter; I am David Ranfurst, and my own person. I miss being a normal person for a change, going to school like everyone else my age. I just need a break for a while. There must be loads of boys wanting to act Harry Potter, I'm sure you could find someone just as good as me.'

The manager's face was turning red with strain, and a bead of sweat glistened on his forehead. 'But that's not the point! The fans, David, they won't accept anyone else. The entire popularity of the Harry Potter films could collapse with the outrage. And what about you? You're a born actor, David, you could be great one day!'

David sighed. 'Look, I know this isn't easy for you, and do you think that it was easy for me to make this decision? I have thought hard about it, and considered the matter very carefully. I can return to acting after I finish school, be great then. What matters is now, and what's best in the present.'

The manager stared at David helplessly, willing him to say anything that would contradict his decision. Even 'April Fools!' would be welcome, even though it was the middle of July.

David said nothing of the sort; just stared calmly at him out of his green eyes…wait, green? Since when did David have green eyes? They had always been hazel, surely?

The manager wondered if he were going mad. 'I just don't understand David! What is so important about this school you speak of? What kind of school is it, anyway?'

David really wished he could explain properly, tell the truth to the man who had made it possible for him to become the actor he was. But he could not. He wouldn't be believed anyway. 'I just can't tell you. Sorry,' he said sadly, looking away.

'But what is so important about this school that you have to give up your solid and successfully growing acting career? What is so important, David! I mean, what is this place. Hogwarts?'

David's eyes snapped back onto the manager's face, staring at him in shock. He hadn't expected anyone to guess, and didn't know what to say when this was the truth…

The manager stared at David's strange reaction. His face paled slightly. 'No!' he said incredulously in a hushed voice. 'You're- you're not telling me it _is_ Hogwarts?'

David suddenly came to his senses. He had nearly let it slip there, lost his cool. 'Of course not!' he exclaimed, and added a slightly nervous laugh. 'Hogwarts doesn't exist! You of all people should know that!'

The manager relaxed, and heaved a sigh of relief. 'No. No of course not. Just me being silly…must be the stress of it all. But even so, I just can't believe that you're leaving us! How long will you be away for? I mean, don't you have holidays throughout the year?'

David sat back in his chair and looked thoughtful. 'I'm away from September the first. I have Christmas, Easter and Summer holidays of course…but not nearly enough time off to continue acting for you.'

The manager was suddenly looking a lot happier. 'Christmas, Easter and Summer…' he muttered to himself. 'That means you'd be home for around three months on average each year.'

David nodded, wondering what the man was planning now.

'Then you could still work for us!' he exclaimed. 'If, of course, you would be willing to film during your holidays. I'm sure we could film around them, do all your parts then, and film the rest and do the editing while you're away!'

David suddenly saw sense in what his manager was saying. 'You'd be willing to reschedule all the filming to fit around me?' he asked, not quite believing it. 'That's a lot to ask of you…'

'Not at all, not at all, David! If it means keeping you, I'd do anything! So would the rest of the film company! The sixth book is due out at the end of the summer, so we could start your filming in the Christmas holidays! What do you think?'

David didn't even need to consider the matter. 'You're on!' he agreed, and shook the beaming manager's hand.

_888_

Hermione walked into Borders bookshop after agreeing to meet up with her mum in an hour, and headed straight for the children's books section. The Harry Potter books were not hard to find, there was a whole shelf dedicated to different editions of them. With growing excitement and interest, she browsed the colourful shelf, and decided eventually to buy all five of the books in paperback, so she could read them at home in her leisure time.

Borders also had a DVD and music section, so she headed over there next to find the films. They had all five of them, just like the books, so putting her selection of books on the floor, she picked them up one at a time to see the covers and read the blurbs. The pictures on the cases made her laugh. Was the girl with light brown bushy hair supposed to be her? She looked nothing like Hermione! And was that the actor of Ron? His hair was too ginger, and his face a different shape to Ron's. Her eyes slid to the final person on the cover, and she gasped. Staring out at her was Harry! Only it wasn't Harry, as he didn't act in films. It must be David, his twin. The likeness was astonishing! No wonder Harry saw fit to take the matter to Dumbledore, despite it being the middle of the holidays.

After looking at all five covers, she decided to buy only the fifth film, as the actors looked more like the age Harry, Ron and she were at the moment. There was no need for her to watch all of them, and she had the books to read anyway.

Pleased with her finds, she went up to the counter and paid. There was still half an hour to spare before meeting her mum in the café across the road. She had no desire to do anything else while in town, and was eager to start reading the books, so she decided to go to the café early, and get a table. That way, she could read while waiting, and maybe get a hot chocolate.

She was so absorbed in her book she never noticed the woman appear out of thin air at the table across from hers with a pen and notepad in one hand, and a glittering golden time turner in the other.

_888_

Harry sat gloomily on his bed and stared at the letter Hermione had sent him last night. As he had predicted, she had written lengthily on how she would investigate into the 'twins' mystery, and what books she had sent for. That was typical Hermione. She had also written sympathetically about how he must be feeling, and her support gave him a warm feeling in the coldness of being ignored at Privet Road. At least she had written back straight away, unlike Ron. What was taking him so long?

His stomach grumbled loudly in the silence, and he realised with a groan that Petunia had forgotten to bring him any lunch and that there was still hours to go before any sort of dinner would be pushed through the cat flap in his door. He wished he knew how to apperate, or that he was old enough to do magic…then he could conjure up some food. He thought also about how useful it would be to have a house elf…and suddenly remembered Kreacher.

Dumbledore had come to visit Harry at the beginning of the summer to explain that Sirius had left him Grimmauld Place, and everything in it, including the ghastly house elf Kreacher. Harry had immediately ordered Kreacher to go and work in Hogwarts, but could he be summoned here, in Privet Road? It was certainly worth a try, and Harry was bored of doing nothing. But how did you call a house elf?

'Kreacher?' he spoke into the silence of his room, feeling a bit stupid. For a moment he thought it hadn't worked, but then there came a loud crack, and a filthy pillowcase appeared in the middle of his floor. Only the arms, legs and pointy-eared ugly head that poked out of the five holes ripped into the material revealed it to be in fact a house elf.

'Master called?' asked Kreacher disgustedly. 'What can Kreacher do for the mudblood loving Potty?'

Harry was about to answer when another loud crack interrupted him, as another house elf appeared on his floor, this time wearing a skirt and woolly jumper, a baseball cap perched on top of his ears, and odd socks on his feet.

'Dobby?' asked Harry, 'what are you doing here?'

'Harry Potter called Kreacher! Kreacher is not a good elf to his master, oh no. Harry Potter deserves Dobby's service more! If Harry Potter calls Kreacher, then he is calling Dobby too, sir!'

Harry couldn't help laughing at the sight in front of him. Dobby's beaming face from under the baseball cap, and Kreacher's ugly snout, which was wrinkled in disgust…still, this was better than he could have hoped for.

'Right, Dobby, Kreacher, I want you to bring me lots of food to eat. Can you do that?'

Dobby beamed and clapped his small hands together. 'Oh YES sir! Dobby will bring Harry Potter a feast, sir!'

'Kreacher?' asked Harry, as the elf had given no response.

Kreacher bowed ridiculously low, and scowled, screwing up his already ugly face even more. 'Master has asked for food, so Kreacher must bring him food.' He muttered this in a sneering voice, and Harry felt he was plotting something nasty. He didn't trust the Black family house elf one bit.

'Dobby, keep an eye on Kreacher for me,' he requested, just to be safe.

'Dobby always does, sir!' squeaked Dobby eagerly. 'Dobby will please Harry Potter sir!'

'Then off you go, both of you,' ordered Harry with a smile. With two loud cracks they vanished, leaving Harry suddenly feeling lonely. It had been nice to have somebody to talk to for a change, even if that somebody was two mad house elves. The thought of food cheered him up though, and he sat back down on his bed to wait, picking up his book on quidditch strategies and beginning to read.

_888_

Albus Dumbledore appeared with a pop outside a block of flats in London and proceeded to press the button on the box on the door that was labelled 'Lupin'.

It wasn't long before a voice echoed out from the speaker. 'Who is it?'

Dumbledore chuckled; he always found muggle devices like this amusing. 'It is I, Albus Dumbledore. May I come up, Remus?'

'Albus! Of course, I'll be with you in a minute!'

There was a pause, and then the door clicked open. Glancing around to check nobody was following him, Dumbledore entered the hallway and shut the door behind him. Using his wand tip for light, he made his way up the flight of stairs to the third floor, and found himself outside a door labelled 'No. 3, Lupin.'

He knocked, and the door opened a crack. 'What sweet did you persuade me to try the year I became a professor?' asked Remus' voice from behind the door, asking the anti-impostor question.

'Hundreds and Thousands,' replied Dumbledore. 'And what did you teach privately to a certain pupil while you were professor?'

'The patronus charm, to Harry.'

They both chuckled at the stupidity of asking these questions and Remus opened the door, allowing the headmaster to enter his flat. 'To what do I owe the pleasure, Albus?' he asked warmly.

'I wanted to talk to you about Harry,' replied Dumbledore, stepping inside. 'It appears he has a twin brother living in the muggle world.'

And Remus' look of utter disbelief told Dumbledore that this news was completely unknown to him also.

_A/N: This is all i have written for now, more on its way soon! Please leave a review to let me know what you think, good or bad! They make me happy and encourage me to write faster! Thanks for reading so far!_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

'…So as you can see, it is a complete mystery as to how and why David shares the same genes and looks as Harry.' Dumbledore had just finished telling a shocked Remus about David. He leaned back in his seat with an exasperated sigh. 'Even Mrs Ranfurst is in total belief that David is her son; she remembers the pregnancy, and his birth.'

Remus, who until this time had remained in complete silence, took this moment to voice his opinion of the matter.

'Albus,' he began gently, looking at the Headmaster honestly. 'I have to tell you that it seems highly doubtful that Harry and David _are_ related.'

At these words Dumbledore pushed his half-moon glasses up onto the brim of his nose, and fixed his bright blue gaze onto Remus, making him feel slightly uncomfortable. He stumbled a little over his words, but continued firmly with his thoughts, ignoring the piercing gaze. 'I mean, they may look like each other, but I was there during Lily's pregnancy, and she had knowledge of only one child growing inside her. That was what she believed from all her check ups and scans in both St. Mungoes _and_ a muggle hospital. None of us ever thought otherwise. And if David's mother believes she was pregnant and gave birth to David… well then I see only that both women were correct.'

Dumbledore frowned. 'So it may seem, Remus, but you have not met David yet, have not seen him and Harry together. There is no doubt in my mind that they are identical. I have the DNA comparisons to back up my theory; they are certainly proof enough that the two boys are twins.'

'But, are you sure that the DNA spell is accurate enough to be relied upon? It can be dodgy, you know… not as accurate as the muggle testing, or from a proper examination in Mungoes. There could be a slight chance that it was wrong...'

Remus had no guilty feelings arguing with Dumbledore. He knew that the older wizard respected his thoughts and ideas, and had come to him for advice on the matter.

Sure enough, Dumbledore was not annoyed with his questioning, and smiled kindly at the old Marauder. 'The test was not dodgy,' he replied quietly. 'I had Severus confirm the results. Thank you for your opinion, but I remain adamant that Harry and David are twins. Now, I have one last question to ask of you, having heard your take on the matter.'

Remus nodded and sipped his coffee, which had gone cold. He grimaced, and waved his wand over the cup. 'Go ahead.'

'You said that you were there during Lily's pregnancy, and I know that you were a regular visitor to the Potter residence over that period of time. Was there anything, ever, that may account for this strange mystery? Anything that might possibly explain why Harry has a twin?' He peered at Remus intently, as if willing him to remember something that might be of help.

Remus began to shake his head. 'I'm sorry Albus, but there's nothing that I can say to help. Lily was lucky to have Harry. She nearly miscarried, you know. Both her and James thought that they'd lost him, the healers said it was a miracle the baby was unharmed. There was never anything about a twin.'

He expected Dumbledore to seem disappointed, possibly sigh and lean back into the soft armchair. However, the words were barely out of Remus' mouth when the old wizard's eyes lit up with sudden eagerness, and he sat up straight with excitement.

'Lily nearly miscarried? When did this happen? What was the cause?'

Remus was rather alarmed by this positive reaction, and wanted to laugh at the eager questions his answer had provoked. However, something told him that this wasn't the moment to laugh at one of the most powerful wizards of their time, so he swallowed the urge and took a deep breath before answering.

'She was in an accident… the Death Eaters targeted a muggle bus thinking it could be passed off as a terrorist attack, and she happened to be travelling on the bus at the time. You might remember it happening?'

Dumbledore nodded slightly, but was clearly impatient to hear the rest of the story.

'It was about three months into her pregnancy and she had her first check up booked for the following week. The bus was blasted off the road and set on fire. Lily was badly injured, I remember visiting her in hospital. St. Mungoes patched her up pretty well once James had got her away from the muggles, but the healers were sure the baby would be affected by the trauma. Yet little Harry was completely unharmed.'

Dumbledore felt a strange sense of familiarity in these words, the talk with Mrs Ranfurst close to mind. Her words echoed through his head as he scanned over what Remus had said, _'however, when I had a scan, when the nurses investigated, my little David was unharmed.'_

'Um, Albus?'

Remus' voice broke into his thoughts. He looked up to see his younger friend studying him curiously, and chuckled, thinking he must have looked very strange indeed. 'I'm so sorry, Remus, my thoughts got the better of me.'

'That's quite all right,' replied Remus understandably. 'Did something I say help?' He was still bemused by the reaction to his words.

The old wizard smiled, the lines around his eyes and mouth crinkling. 'I think so! You see, David's mother was also involved in an accident at around the same time. She, also nearly miscarried her baby, yet by some miracle he was unharmed. Now, I have no idea if it was the same accident, but I do know that this is too good a coincidence to go unnoticed, especially as it appears that both Lily and David's mother were pregnant at exactly the same moment at exactly the same time. Not only that but both boys were born on the same day, barely a minute apart!'

Remus was feeling rather overwhelmed by all this information that Dumbledore had excitedly reeled off to him, but he now understood the cause of excitement. 'That is indeed rather too much of a coincidence,' he agreed thoughtfully. 'I have to hand it to you Albus, there is definitely something strange about the whole situation. Maybe you're right after all, as most of your theories turn out to be!'

Dumbledore chuckled. 'And I am ever grateful to you for putting up with my crazy ideas, Remus, I know I must seem gaga to you at times!'

Remus muttered something that sounded like 'more like all the time!'

Dumbledore turned to him sharply. 'What was that?' he asked, a twinkle appearing in his eye.

'Nothing, professor,' replied Remus innocently, feeling as if he was sixteen again. He half expected a reminder of his age in reply, as his old Headmaster liked a joke as well as anybody.

Dumbledore, however, was too busy thinking about the latest development in the 'twin mystery' to carry the joke even further, and instead thought out loud, 'how can I find out if Mrs Ranfurst was involved in the same accident as Lily?'

Remus grinned. Now this was something he could help with. 'You could use the Internet, Albus. I have my computer connected up.'

Dumbledore's face showed an expression of wonder as he recognised the reference to muggle technology. 'A net? How could using a net be of any use to me? I have always had a passion for fishing, of course! I remember when I was a child, splashing in rock pools at the beach…' He was off, reminiscing of the past, a dreamy smile on his face.

Remus rolled his eyes and groaned. 'No, Albus, not a net, the _Inter_net! You know, the muggle technology involving a computer? I know you know about those, don't pretend otherwise!'

Dumbledore stopped talking about crabs, muscles and fish, and smiled at Remus. 'Oh a _computer_! I am sorry, my friend. My knowledge of muggle devices is somewhat limited these days. But how can that help us?'

'We can look up news from the time of the accident. The muggles thought it was terrorism, they will have a record of the incident, and hopefully a list of casualties and deaths.'

Dumbledore regarded him for a moment, as if considering the offer. 'Or I could just check the records in the ministry,' he replied. 'Forgive me, Remus, I have little patience for muggle technology. I would only get sidetracked by the fascination.'

Remus nodded, a slight smile playing at his lips at the thought of Dumbledore surfing the net. 'How is Harry taking to having a twin?' he asked as Dumbledore started to put on his cloak.

'Very well considering. I think he is pleased to have real living family. In fact, that reminds me, I promised I would write to him… could I use your owl?'

'Of course!' replied Remus, moving into the kitchen as Dumbledore conjured up parchment and quill.

!/_when character meets actor/_!

Harry's reading was interrupted by a loud crack, and he looked up hopefully to see Dobby teetering under a huge five-story tray that was packed full with a three-course meal, drinks and snacks. He hurriedly jumped off the bed to help the little house elf before he could drop anything, and helped him lower the trays to the floor. Dobby made to levitate the food into sections, but Harry gave a yelp.

'Dobby, no!'

The house elf stopped mid action, and looked at Harry with his bulging yellow eyes, a confused expression on his face.

'If you do magic, the ministry will think it was me! I don't want to have to go to another hearing, just arrange the food on the floor, ok?'

Dobby looked much happier and gave a low bow. 'Dobby will do whatever Harry Potter says!' he squeaked, and began arranging the plates.

'Thanks, Dobby!' replied Harry gratefully. 'This looks delicious, by the way!'

There was another sudden crack, and Kreacher appeared, nearly standing in the ice cream. He had a cardboard box, and a tray, upon which balanced a covered, rather dirty looking ceramic dish. He placed these on the floor beside Dobby's feast and bowed ridiculously low at Harry's feet. 'Kreacher brings master food as requested,' he mumbled, looking at his feet and refusing to meet Harry's eyes.

'Right, er, thank you,' replied Harry, trying to be polite. 'You can go now Kreacher.' He didn't want to linger in the unpleasant house elf's company for longer than necessary. It seemed the house elf felt the same about his master, he immediately disapperated without another word or a sneer.

Harry cautiously approached the cardboard box and slowly opened the flaps, bracing himself for something unpleasant. What he saw couldn't have shocked him more. There was a plate inside, and on it a freshly baked tomato pizza, oozing with melted cheese. In the middle of the surface, badly written in tomato puree, were the words, 'Kreecha baykd this for marsta'.

His mouth watering from the delicious smell, and feeling very touched and astonished that the grouchy elf could actually cook, Harry covered the pizza up again, and moved on to the grimy dish. After the pleasant contents of the box, he opened the lid of the dish with higher expectations.

What he saw inside immediately made him recoil; the dish was full of wriggling maggots and worms! Obviously Kreacher had felt this was needed to make up for the effort of being nice to Harry. He hurriedly closed the lid again in disgust, and instructed Dobby to dispose of it before he lost his appetite.

He was just sitting down to a starter of bread and pumpkin soup when the house elf returned, seemingly very pleased with himself.

'Thanks Dobby, this is brilliant!' he said with his mouth full. 'You can go now if you like.'

Dobby's eyes filled with tears of happiness as he watched Harry enjoy the food.

'Dobby will stay here and serve you dinner, sir!' replied the elf. Then he looked anxious and asked, 'if Harry Potter does not mind, sir?'

'Of course not!' replied Harry, causing Dobby to beam widely. 'You can eat something, if you like.'

Dobby shook his head. 'Oh no sir! Dobby couldn't! 'Tis an insult to the house elf, eating food he has prepared for master!'

'Sorry,' mumbled Harry, 'I didn't know!'

Dobby was about to reply when there was a tap at the window. 'Dobby will get it sir!' he exclaimed, and then proceeded to hurry over to the desk, clambered on to the chair, and then the tabletop in order to reach the window to let in the owl now perched on the ledge.

Harry recognised it as being Remus' owl, so was surprised when he saw the curly handwriting of his headmaster.

'_Dear Harry, _

_I hope you are well. I'm sorry I did not write earlier, but I have been busy trying to solve the 'twin' mystery. However, I visited David's parents after you left the other day, and explained to them that he is a wizard. All went as planned, and I have offered him a place at Hogwarts this coming year. He will let me know by the end of this week whether he has accepted. Feel free to send Hedwig to him sometime, I'm sure he would be happy to hear from you!_

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore.'_

Harry, who had initially felt annoyed with the headmaster for not writing straight away as agreed, felt a happy buzz at the prospect of David going to Hogwarts with him. He wondered what Dumbledore had discovered in regards to how he and David were twins, but suspected that he had deliberately not put too many details in the letter. He put the note on his desk and proceeded to eat his main course; roast lamb, potatoes, carrots, and cabbage, all soaked in a delicious thick mint gravy. Feeling rather full after eating a whole plateful, Harry decided to write to David before eating pudding, to give himself a rest.

!/_when character meets actor/_!

Hermione lay back on her pillows with a sigh as the credits rolled up at the end of the film 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.' She let the DVD play on, enjoying the music and thinking back over the film. It was very good, extremely well made, and she had been impressed by the muggles' interpretation of the various sets in the magic world. The main story line, however, although being loosely based on what their fifth year had been like, had been completely changed, and nearly all the lines that her and her friends said, she had never heard before. It was such a weird feeling watching a film about yourself and your life, yet more like an interpretation of a biography of Harry Potter in that the characters were all played by actors who are totally different to the real people. The only person she felt she was really watching was Harry. David Ranfurst looked so much like her best friend, and his voice and laugh were also identical to his, but this was only a small matter, he really seemed to have a feel for Harry.

On the TV beside her bed, the film's credits came to an end. The menu reappeared and she automatically selected special features. As David came on screen without his Harry Potter outfit, she felt less like she was seeing Harry, but their looks still appeared to be identical. Listening to him talk as David, not Harry, she began to get a feel for his own character and personality, and decided that he seemed like a really nice guy.

The actor of herself, however, had been another matter all together. Hermione found that Emily Wandon, other than having curly brown hair, was nothing like herself. She was quite pretty, and here Hermione envied her, but her voice was annoying to listen to, very posh and gasping. By the end of the film, Hermione felt she was watching a different character rather than herself.

Then there was Ron, played by Ray Grent. Hermione had to hand it to him, he got the typical Ron look absolutely spot on, plus the goofy humour and rather attractive cuteness of a puppy, but it surprised her how much chemistry there was between him and what was supposed to be herself. From watching the film she would assume that Ron loved her, yet she was sure that he didn't in real life, and, she thought sadly, probably never would. Ray was much taller than Ron, and his hair a lighter ginger. He wasn't as good looking either…

As for everyone else, there was a certain feeling that the actors managed to capture of the real people, but none came close to the people Hermione knew so well.

It was also interesting for her to compare the film characters to those of the first book, which Hermione had flown through before watching the film. In the book, the characters were so like the real people, it was unsettling. What made it even stranger to read was the fact that it was mostly centred around Harry's thoughts and feelings. She felt awkward reading it, as if prying into his mind, although she kept reminding herself that the author couldn't have known what he was feeling. Reading about their lives in these books made her feel the uncomfortable sensation that they had been watched everyday since receiving their Hogwarts letters, and this bothered her. How exactly had the author known about each moment of their school years anyway, let alone that the magic world existed?

There was a knock on her door, interrupting her thoughts, and Mrs Granger put her head around the door. 'Andrew and Sarah are here, darling. Come downstairs to say hello.'

Hermione sighed as her mother left, leaving the door annoyingly open. Sarah was her older cousin, and she had recently married her best friend Andrew. They were nice enough people, but liked to talk way too much. This would be ok if they didn't keep asking questions about Hermione's school. It was beginning to get awkward…

Bracing herself, she turned on the light, and scraped back her long bushy hair into a ponytail before flicking the switch once more and making her way down the stairs.

!/_when character meets actor/_!

Harry sent David's letter with Hedwig, and then proceeded to rest for a while, lying on his bed and servicing his firebolt. When the handle was as shiny as he could get it, and the twigs immaculate, he decided he felt ready for pudding, and had just his began to eat his way through a bowl of vanilla ice cream and strawberries when there was a scream from downstairs that sounded very much like Dudley. Harry pressed his ear to the floor (the kitchen was below his room) and was able to hear what all the commotion was about, though the voices were slightly muffled.

'What is it Diddums?' came the anxious voice of Aunt Petunia.

'There- there's maggots in the trifle!'

'Don't be silly dear, there can't be- AAARRGH!'

Harry got up from the floor, unable to contain his laughter. He turned to Dobby, who was watching Harry laugh, delight etched in his pointy face. 'Harry Potter told me to dispose of maggots, sir!' he said bashfully, 'so Dobby puts them in the muggles' fridge sir!'

Harry could only laugh harder in response as the screams of Vernon joined in with those of his aunt and cousin, in which the word _'WORMS!_' could be distinctly heard.

A/N please review to let me know what you think! Reviews inspire me to write!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

David lay stretched out on his bed, staring blankly at the flat-screened plasma TV on his bedroom wall. Lazily, he continued to flick through the sky channels with the remote control, as he had been for the past five minutes, but found nothing to spark his interest. He had just selected the BBC news out of sheer boredom, when a buzzing noise coming from his mobile phone announced an incoming text message.

'_Hi Dave u k? Fancy meeting up l8r 4 a chat? Tb luv Sara.'_

David sighed and pressed cancel, before putting the phone back on his bedside table. Sara was his 'ex' girlfriend, but didn't seem to realise that he just wasn't interested anymore.

The phone buzzed again. Feeling annoyed, David checked the screen, and almost pressed cancel once more before realising the message was from Ray, his fellow actor and good friend.

_'Hey m8, u ok? wats this I hear bout u givin up acting?? Rayx.'_

David's eyes widened in surprise, since when had he said he was giving up acting? He pressed reply and quickly typed a response. _'Wherd u hear that? Not true. Davex_.'

It wasn't long before the phone buzzed for a third time with the reply, _'Oh good! Didn think it cud b. snitchcatcher dot com. Check it out! R.'_

Frowning, David turned off his phone and slipped it in his pocket before going over to his computer desk and opening his laptop. It took a few seconds for the home page to come up, and he quickly typed in the fan site address. The page loaded immediately, a black page with a snitch boarder, showing the main news to do with anything remotely Harry Potter listed by date down the page. The first item read 'Release date confirmed!' next to a picture of what must be the cover of the sixth book. Beneath this news, the second item, written beside a picture of himself, read; _'David Ranfurst to give up acting?'_

David shook his head in disbelief, and clicked on the heading to read more.

_'Sources have revealed that David Ranfurst (actor of Harry Potter) may not be returning to act in the sixth film. It has been said that he approached his manager recently with the intention of resigning. We have yet to hear if his resignation was accepted, and why he does not wish to continue filming, although it is said that the sixteen-year-old actor wishes to be 'normal' for a change, and live the life of an everyday teenager. However, fellow actors Ray Grent (Ron Weasley) and Emily Wandon (Hermione Granger) will be returning for the sixth film, which is due to start filming in December. Please note that this news has yet to be confirmed.'_

With an exasperated sigh, David exited the page and closed the laptop. These fan sites picked up on everything, no matter how small, or incorrect, the details. How they had got hold of that piece of news was a mystery to him, but he supposed that the film company would set them right soon enough. He suddenly felt so cut off from the rest of the muggle world, annoyed with their attention and his popularity. Ever since he had met Harry and found out he was a wizard he had felt different and like he didn't really fit in anymore.

There was a tap at the window, and David looked around eagerly at the sound that had become so familiar over the past couple of days, to the welcoming sight of Hedwig perched outside the window, a letter in her beak. Now that was the way to communicate, he thought happily as he made his way over to the snowy owl. No technology, annoying beeping or buzzing sounds, just a lovely, feathery owl. He took the letter from Hedwig, and stroked her lovingly on the top of her head, a particular soft spot of hers. She hooted quietly in response, and nipped his hand gently. David often wondered if she mistook him for Harry!

He put the letter on his desk, and took out some almonds from a bag on the table. Hedwig flew once around the large room before settling on the windowsill, and he scattered a few of the nuts in front of her. The snowy owl absolutely adored almonds, and immediately began to peck at the crunchy nuts, ruffling her feathers in pleasure. Harry had said that she must like them so much because they remind her of owl treats.

David smiled and watched the owl eat for a moment, then picked up the letter from Harry, and sitting comfortably on his bed, began to read.

_-When Character Meets Actor-_

Harry sat patiently on his packed trunk, Hedwig's empty cage beside him. He had been waiting like this for the past hour or so after getting all his stuff together, just sitting in front of the locked bedroom door waiting for some sort of signal that might announce Mr Weasley's arrival to take him to The Burrow.

The shrill sound of the doorbell brought him out of his thoughts, and he sat up quickly, then stood up and crossed to the window. Looking down at the path that led to the front door, he could see the top of a bald patch amongst red hair, and grinned as he recognised Ron's dad wearing what looked like a large rugby shirt tucked loosely into a pair of faded, flared jeans.

With a laugh, Harry realised that the shrill noise was still going, and that Mr Weasley was having great fun pressing the button to make the doorbell ring. 'That will really make the Durgles mad!' he thought. Sure enough, there was a bellow from downstairs that belonged to Uncle Vernon. 'WHO THE BLOODY HELL KEEPS RINGING THE DOORBELL!'

'Calm down Vernon, dear, just go and answer it!' came Petunia's soothing tone, but she was drowned out by the sound of her husband's stomping heavy feet as he made his way angrily to open the front door.

'WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU-?'

The ringing noise stopped, as did Vernon's offensive greeting, and Harry could only assume that his uncle had been silenced in shock.

'Good morning!' came the polite and cheery voice of Arthur Weasley. 'You might remember me; I'm your nephew Harry's best friend's father, Arthur Weasley!'

Downstairs in the open doorway, Vernon's face turned purple and he began to splutter in anger and fright. He made to shut the door in Mr Weasley's face, but the older wizard smiled and put his foot between the door and the frame, taking out his wand at the same time. 'Now, we can't have any of that between friends!' he said cheerily. 'I'm afraid that, like it or not, I am coming in, and it would be good manners, and very wise, to accept. I will not be staying long, I merely came to pick up Harry.'

Vernon eyed the wand suspiciously, and backed away slowly, his face now a beetroot red.

'Thank you!' said Mr Weasley, and stepped inside, looking around in wonder at the interior of the very muggleised house. 'Amazing!' he murmured, 'absolutely amazing. And all run off of eklectricity, I see?' He beamed round at Vernon, and now Petunia, who had appeared behind her husband, eyes wide with shock, and lips pursed in disapproval.

'What do you want?' demanded Vernon, nervously stroking his moustache.

'Ah, yes,' replied Mr Weasley, suddenly remembering why he was there, and tearing his eyes away from the overhead lights and the telephone. 'I have come to collect Harry; he is to stay with us for the rest of the summer. I assume he told you I was coming?'

Vernon and Petunia exchanged looks of disbelief, as if the wizard had suggested they be nice to Harry.

Mr Weasley noticed this look and frowned. 'Where is he, anyway…? HARRY?' he shouted the last word, causing the Durgles to flinch and move closer together.

There was no answer. Vernon was shooting anxious looks up at the ceiling, and Mr Weasley, interpreting these correctly, gave them an angry look and started up the stairs. Once on the upstairs landing, he used his wand to blast the doors open in turn, scaring Donald, who was cowering in the bathroom.

Harry heard the banging of doors, and wisely moved away from his, just as that, too, burst open to reveal a furious Mr Weasley, who's look of anger soon turned to affection as he saw Harry standing in the room looking positively healthy despite having been locked in his room for a week.

'Harry!' he exclaimed, and hugged him briefly. 'Are you alright?'

Harry grinned, pleased to see a familiar face. 'Never better, thanks!'

'But, they locked you in here!' He seemed really indignant, and Harry was touched by his worry.

'Yeah, they do that sometimes… but I had food, and it hasn't been for long thanks to you.'

Mr Weasley gave an unsure smile. 'Well, ok then, but it's still not right. I'll have to have a word with Albus about how they treat you… I see you're all packed and ready!' He flicked his wand and the trunk rose lightly into the air, hovering in the doorway. Harry nodded and grabbed Hedwig's cage. 'How are we travelling?' he asked.

Mr Weasley led the way out onto the landing. 'Apperating,' he replied casually.

Harry stopped in his tracks. 'But I can't apperate,' he said in confusion. 'I don't have a licence.'

Mr Weasley smiled. 'No matter, I will be taking you by side-along apperition. You need no experience or licence to do that!'

This explanation did not reassure Harry, as he had never heard of such a transport before, but he supposed Mr Weasley knew what he was doing. 'Ok,' he answered, more confidently than he felt, and followed the older wizard down the stairs.

They found that the Durgles had retreated to the kitchen, and neither Petunia nor Vernon could meet Harry's eyes as he said a cheery goodbye. In fact, they were getting more and more annoyed as Mr Weasley flicked the light switch on and off in wonder, over and over again, like a small child with its favourite toy. Harry could barely contain his laughter as his relatives blinked constantly in the flash of light and gloom, and it was with a certain reluctance that he prized Mr Weasley away, but he couldn't stand to stay in the house much longer.

'Come on Mr Weasley, we should be going now!'

The red headed wizard sighed and flicked the switch one more time, leaving the light off. 'Oh all right, I suppose we should. It's just this muggle device is so very amusing!'

Harry laughed at the Durgles' scared expressions, and led the way out into the hall. He made to open the front door, but Mr Weasley put out a hand to stop him. 'No, Harry, we'll apperate from in here. It's much safer, considering it's the middle of the day in a muggle-populated area! Here, take my arm…that's it, hold tight!'

Harry gripped hold of Mr Weasley's right arm, his free hand clutching Hedwig's cage. He didn't know what to expect at all, so was very shocked and pained to find all the air sucked from his lungs as if they were being squeezed, and his head pulsing with unpleasant throbs, as the hallway disappeared into blackness.

_-When Character Meets Actor-_

Hermione sat at the computer in her Dad's office. She had been busy reading the books that she had borrowed from Hogwarts these last few days, and had found out quite a lot of interesting facts on magical twins, yet nothing that could explain the situation with Harry and David. So failing on that, she had returned to the other thought that had been bothering her about the situation; that the author of the Harry Potter books must have been watching them very closely in order to write about their lives so accurately. So that was how she found herself on the office computer, researching Harry Potter.

After bringing up the google page, she paused for a moment, wondering what to search. Finally she typed in 'Harry Potter fiction books', deciding that she might as well start somewhere, and pressed enter on the keyboard.

The amount of results that followed was unbelievable! At the top of the page, the figures read 'results 1-10 of about 16,700,000'. Staring at the screen in disbelief, Hermione scanned the titles and website summaries to see if there was anything remotely related to what she wanted to find out.

The first one read: _'**Fan Fiction Books Harry Potter. **Harry Potter Fan Works – Fan fiction based on the Harry Potter books, … Harry Potter Original Stories – Harry Potter fan fiction predating the books, …'_

Hermione shook her head and scanned further down the page, finding more of the same about fan fiction. _'**harrypotterfanfiction dot com**:: Over 44000 Harry Potter stories. The best unofficial dedicated Harry Potter fan fiction site on the net…'_

Deciding that this was no good, yet intrigued by how many fan fiction sites there seemed to be, she decided to check that out after further searching. Feeling a little bit vain, yet also curiosity, she next typed in her own name, Hermione Granger. What followed was a total of 1,550,000 results, the first being a biography of herself on the online encyclopaedia, and the second a fan site for her actress self, Emily Wandon.

The last heading on the page caught her eye, and she almost laughed at the title. _'**How to make a Hermione Granger Costume**', it read, followed by the summary: 'How to Create a Hermione Granger Costume. So you want to dress like the goody-two-shoes, know-it-all Hermione Granger?'_ At this, Hermione gasped with indignation. Why would anyone want to dress like herself? And was that the impression people got of her character from the stupid books and films? _Goody two shoes, know it all_, these people obviously didn't know her at all!

Feeling a little upset, she decided to search for the Harry Potter fan fiction, as that sounded fun… stories written by fans. So she keyed in the search, and it brought up a page full of results, including some extracts from the different stories. There was one with the line, '…_Hermione opened the bathroom door, only to see_…'

She clicked on that, curious to find out what she saw in the bathroom. What she read of the rest of the extract caused her eyes to widen in shock, and her stomach to churn in disgust, yet at the same time she couldn't help but laugh at the utterly ridiculous idea of it all:

_'… Hermione opened the bathroom door, only to see Draco Malfoy standing by the shower, and wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist, his toned body glistening wet. She wanted to turn around and leave, yet couldn't help staring at his naked, muscular body. Opposite her, Draco also stared in shock at the sight of Hermione, the geeky bookworm, wearing only black, lacy underwear. Surprisingly, she had a gorgeous body; tanned and curvy. She looked incredibly sexy with her cheeks tinged pink in embarrassment, and soft, curly hair hanging loose down her back. Timidly, he took a step towards her, then waited to see how she would react…'_

With a sort of sick addiction, Hermione scanned on to see what would happen, but got to the words '…_Draco ran his hands down her, exploring her curvy body. She shivered, and reached out to touch his soft blonde hair…_' and had to stop reading. What could the fan who wrote this be thinking? Her and Malfoy? Euwch! No way in hell! That was totally and utterly disgusting!

She clicked on the main website, to get to the homepage, then selected 'search for a story/author'. On this page were many different pairings, and some of them absolutely ridiculous! There was her and Malfoy for a start, then her and Harry, which disturbed her, if anything, more than Malfoy. Harry was like a brother to her, and she could never think of him as more than that! But what really got her the most were the stories about her and Ron. Only this time, the scary thing wasn't that she would never think of him as more than a friend, but that she actually didn't mind reading them. It seemed to fit in a strange way that they should be together. Yet she didn't like Ron in that way, did she?

Then there were the ridiculous pairings of her and other characters, such as Snape, or Neville, or Sirius in a time travel story. Not to mention the ones Harry and Ron got paired with! She found some really interesting and fun stories though, and began to read, totally forgetting her original purpose on the computer. She soon found herself addicted, even to some of the stories about her and Malfoy, despite how wrong it would be in reality for it to happen.

There was a knock on the door, which made her jump and snap guiltily out of the story she was reading about Ron declaring his love to her at sunrise by the lake at Hogwarts.

'Yes?' she asked, somewhat breathlessly, as she closed down the internet window.

The door opened and her father walked in, smiling to see her still at the computer. 'I just came to see if you were all right, and to tell you that supper's ready. You've been in here all afternoon!'

Hermione looked at the clock on the desk, and was shocked to see that he was right. 'Ok,' she replied in a bit of a daze, 'I'll be along now.'

_-When Character Meets Actor-_

Harry and Mr Weasley reappeared on the lane outside the burrow, and Harry gasped in the fresh air, glad that the unpleasant squeezing feeling had now passed. Apperating was certainly not one of his favourite ways to travel; he preferred brooms and even floo after experiencing that!

'You ok, Harry?' asked Mr Weasley, as they approached the house. 'Sorry, should have warned you about what would happen, but you get used to it!'

Harry nodded, though he doubted he ever would like apperating, his temples still throbbed slightly. However, the sight of The Burrow, his second favourite home after Hogwarts, made him feel a lot better.

Ron, Ginny and Mrs Weasley, were waiting for them on the doorstep, and were all very pleased to see Harry. When he reached them he was immediately engulfed in a motherly hug from Mrs Weasley, who then held him at a slight distance, studying his appearance before declaring him 'taller than ever and in need of more feeding up'. She then bustled into the kitchen to finish making lunch, leaving him to greet his friends.

Ron grinned widely at him. 'Great to see you mate!' he said warmly.

'And you!' replied Harry. He then turned to Ginny, whose shiny red hair was cascading down her back, longer and thicker than when he had last seen her. She smiled at him, and he instinctively stepped forwards and hugged her, but quickly broke away again when he realised what he had done, feeling slightly confused. Since when did he ever hug Ginny?

She, too was looking slightly shocked, but recovered quickly enough to grin happily. 'So, Harry, you have lots to tell us! How's,' and she dropped her voice slightly, '…David?'

At these words, Ron, who hadn't noticed anything, looked interested. 'Yeah, you haven't really explained about him properly,' he said. 'Any news on how come you're twins?'

Harry looked around the yard anxiously. Mr Weasley wasn't that far away. 'I'll tell you later,' he muttered. 'Can't really say here…'

Ron was just about to reply when Mrs Weasley reappeared in the doorway. 'Ginny, Ron, where are you manners?' she asked in a disapproving tone. 'Show Harry inside, and let him get settled in. Oh, and Hedwig just arrived, Harry, she had a letter for you. I put it on top of your trunk.'

Harry smiled. 'Thanks, Mrs Weasley.'

Molly smiled fondly back at him. 'No problem dear. Lunch is in half an hour, so make sure you're all down by then!'

'Yes Mum,' chorused Ron and Ginny together. They watched her go back into the kitchen, then Ginny added, 'come on, let's go up to your room, Ronnie,' which made Harry laugh, he'd never heard Ginny call her brother that before.

Ron scowled. 'Don't call me Ronnie!' he said through gritted teeth, as they made their way up the rickety stairs.

'As you wish, Ronald,' came Ginny's sweet reply, and listening happily to the two siblings' light bickering, Harry felt like he was home once more.

_-When Character Meets Actor-_

The author of the Harry Potter books stood expectantly outside the chief editor's door. She had previously handed in the first manuscript for the sixth, and possibly final, book of her series, and was waiting for the response.

She didn't have long to wait before the door opened.

'Well?' she asked, looking up eagerly.

The editor had an unreadable expression on her face, and didn't seem to know what to say.

'What?' asked the anxious author, now frowning. 'Oh God, it's awful, isn't it? I thought the writing may seem rushed but-'

'No!' interrupted the editor hurriedly. 'No, it's not that; the writing's brilliant! The best of the whole series so far!'

This caused the author to smile, but only a little. 'Then what's the matter?' she asked in confusion. Nothing she had ever done before had caused this reaction; it must be something terrible.

The editor seemed to struggle to find words for a moment, but seeing the anguish her reaction was causing, eventually managed to explain.

'You… you gave Harry Potter a twin!'

**A/N: PLEASE REVIEW! I originally had this posted on harrypotterfanfiction dot com, and had 107 reviews!! but unfortunately the staff there have deleted the story because of it being baased on real people, so this is the only site i have it on now, and only 6 a measly 6 reviews! compared to 107 that is very bad... so if you read, please review! it will mean a lot to me! Thanks for reading! Chapter 8 on its way...**

**Rose :)**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Harry, Ginny and Ron were playing quidditch out in the Weasley's orchard together, which had become a favourite pass time for the three over the past few days. It wasn't much fun with only three players, but Ron was in goal, and Harry and Ginny played against each other; the rule being that Ginny had to score points by getting the quaffle past Ron, and Harry by catching the snitch. The equivalent of Harry getting the snitch was five goals, making the matches short, but fun.

It was the 3rd match of the day, and the score was 2-1 to Ginny. Harry soared through the air on his firebolt, enjoying the wind ruffling his hair, and wishing that they could fly higher and further, the restrictions of being near a muggle village preventing this. He started off searching for the snitch, which had disappeared with a golden flutter of wings amongst the apple trees, but ended up watching Ginny instead as she flew around with the quaffle, teasing and goading her brother into missing her shots, then comically imitating his frantic moves. Her dark red hair streamed out behind her, shining in the sunlight, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud at her antics.

Suddenly she was speeding towards him, the quaffle tucked under one arm. Harry, taken by surprise, nearly fell off his broom and had to make a sharp swing to the left to avoid being crashed into. Ginny's laughter rang out into the summer's air and she grinned at him as she swerved around his broom. 'C'mon Harry, I'm four goals up! One more and I'll win again!' she called, speeding off to the makeshift goal posts.

Harry grinned evilly. 'Right, you asked for it, Gin!' he called loudly, and zoomed after her. 'Accio snitch!' he cried, pulling out his wand. There was a rushing sound, and the small golden blur of a ball came whizzing towards his outstretched hand. 'Hah!' he called triumphantly, enjoying the look of extreme indignation on Ginny's face.

'That's cheating, Potter!' she exclaimed. 'Since when has the famous Harry Potter had to cheat at quidditch?'

Harry was about to give a teasing reply when Ron sped over from the goal posts, surprise etched on his face, and answering the question for him. 'Since he stopped paying attention to the game, then found out that his opponent was about to score the winning goal!' he said loudly, looking weirdly at Harry. 'Mate, what distracted you? You just stopped looking for the snitch and hovered in mid air for ages!'

Harry's cheeks coloured slightly, he hadn't realised that he had stopped flying altogether. 'Erm, I was enjoying the summer's air,' he invented quickly, 'and, um, there was a bird…'

Ginny glanced at Ron, and then looked hurriedly away, trying not to laugh. 'A bird?' she asked sceptically, raising her eyebrows.

'Yeah…' replied Harry. 'It was, um, flying…'

Ginny and Ron both burst into laughter. 'Like birds never fly, Harry!'

'Well it was flying backwards!' finished Harry, beginning to grin himself. 'It…'

'Never mind Harry,' said Ginny, coming to his rescue and humouring him. 'We all get a little distracted sometimes!'

Harry laughed. 'Yeah, but I bet it's never 'cause of a bird flying backwards!'

Ginny grinned at him. 'No, usually not! Race you both to the end of the orchard and back?' And before either of them could reply, she was off, her hair a red blur in the blue sky.

'C'mon, mate!' cried Harry to Ron, and sped off after her.

Ron shook his head, and accelerated after his friend. Harry was behaving very strange lately! He suddenly wished Hermione were with them. Her presence always seemed to balance out the trio, and without her he felt they were often too heavy on one side. But she was on holiday in Ireland with her parents, and wouldn't be back until next week. He missed her sensible comments and their many arguments, the way her hair always frizzed, no matter what she did to it, and her sparkling brown eyes… He was pulled suddenly out of his thoughts by the impact of flying straight into a tree. He rubbed his head, dazed, and pulled his broom back on course, blushing a deep red. From up ahead, Harry and Ginny were laughing at him… and as he reached them he found himself blaming it on a backward flying bird.

-_when character meets actor-_

Mrs Ranfurst was moving around the kitchen, cleaning the worktop surfaces, and washing up from breakfast. She was alone in the house this morning, as David was out with Ray and Emma, and her husband at work, and so she was enjoying the silence for once.

Suddenly there was a loud tapping noise at the window, causing her to jump, and she looked up to see a dark brown owl sitting on the windowsill, clutching a letter in its beak.

A week ago this would have alarmed her greatly, but now she was used to David receiving letters by owl, and smiled as she moved forwards to let it in.

'Hey beautiful owl, David's not in at the moment, but I'll take that for you,' she murmured, stroking the bird's feathery head, and taking the letter from its beak.

The handsome owl gave a soft hoot, trusting her with the letter, and enjoying the attention. She expected him to fly away again now that his letter was delivered, but to her surprise, the bird flew inside and perched up on the dresser, where he ruffled his feathers and stood watching her, bright amber eyes glowing.

'Ok, so you want to stay for a while?' asked Rosemary, felling slightly puzzled, but assuming that this was the natural thing for an owl to do. Looking down at the letter finally, she saw that it wasn't addressed to David, as expected, but to her.

Sitting down at the table, she stared at the envelope a moment before opening it.

_Dear Rosemary Ranfurst,_

_Please pass this on to David; it is a letter requiring his presence at an important meeting in the wizarding world. Thank you! I hope you are well,_

_Best regards,_

_Albus Dumbledore._

_P.S. The owl will not leave until David sends his return letter, as he has no other means of doing so!_

Rosemary smiled, and took out another note enclosed in the envelope, this time addressed to David. That Albus Dumbledore was a clever man… how did he know David would be out today? She was curious as to what this important meeting was about, and why her son was needed to attend, however, she would have to wait until David came back that afternoon to find out.

-_when character meets actor_-

Mrs Weasley smiled as she watched her two youngest children plus Harry zoom around on their brooms. She could just see them through the bedroom window, and had stopped the household chores for a moment to watch. It amused her greatly to see Harry gradually lose interest in the game and hover in mid air, and she could well guess what, or rather whom, he was staring at, and smiled knowingly.

Her vision was interrupted by the arrival of a large tawny owl, flying silently towards the bedroom window, and she stepped back hurriedly, tugging at the latch as she did so. The owl arrived shortly after, and perched importantly on the window ledge, holding out its leg for Mrs Weasley to take the letter tied to it.

With a slight flicker of concern, Molly noted that the address was written in Dumbledore's large curly hand, and stamped with a seal all members would recognise as being the symbol for the Order of the Phoenix.

She took the letter, and the owl hooted softly before taking flight, soon becoming only a small dark speck on the horizon, but Molly didn't notice, as she moved over to the bed whilst opening the envelope, then sat down on the faded flowery quilt to read the letter itself.

_'Dear Molly and Arthur,_

_You are requested to attend an important meeting for S.P.E.W at the usual place, 10:00 tomorrow morning. There will be a special guest present, so it is required that you are punctual. Any problems, please contact me before 12:00 tonight._

_Sincerely,_

_A.D.'_

Molly frowned, well knowing that the use of Hermione's house elf protection society S.P.E.W was the cover name for the Order, and thinking that there must be something very urgent or important to be discussed for a meeting other than the monthly gathering to take place.

Making a mental note to tell Arthur when he got back from work, and already planning on how to organise the next day so that they could attend, she tucked the letter in her robe pocket and got up to close the window, just missing the sight of Ron crashing into a tree.

The following morning, Dumbledore made his way casually up the road to David's house, ignoring the stares he was receiving from the few people out in the street at his strange attire and long white beard.

He reached the smart black front door, and knocked sharply, then stepped back slightly to wait, taking out a golden pocket watch on a long chain from the folds of his robes. He studied the face for a second, before nodding slightly in satisfaction and re pocketing the watch, just as the door opened to reveal…

_'Harry?'_

Dumbledore blinked in surprise, and almost fell off the step.

The teenage boy before him laughed, then took off his large, round glasses and rubbed off the scar mark on his forehead before ruffling up his scruffy dark hair. 'Ha! Fooled you there, didn't I?' he said with a cheeky grin worthy of James. 'Sorry, Professor, I just couldn't resist!'

Dumbledore frowned disapprovingly, but couldn't help but laugh at the joke. It had shocked him how much David looked like Harry with his glasses on, and he had to admit that it had really made him think that Harry had answered the door.

'Yes, well done David, you had me well and truly fooled,' he said with a smile, his blue eyes twinkling. 'Now, may I come in? We are doing well for time at the moment, however, any more little jokes like that one and we will be late for the meeting.'

David realised the importance of the situation and nodded seriously. 'Sure, come in.'

Dumbledore stepped into the hallway, and shut the door behind him.

'Are we apperating, Professor?' asked David curiously, leading the way into the lounge.

'Yes, we will be apperating to the head quarters shortly. However, before we leave I would like to talk to you about the meeting, although most was explained in the letter to you.'

'Ok,' replied David, 'would you like something to drink?'

'No, I thank you, David, but I am fine,' answered Dumbledore, smiling inwardly at the boy's polite manners, and helping himself to a seat.

David sat down opposite him, his hazel eyes curious. 'So, the meeting is to explain to various people about me being Harry's twin, right?'

'Right!' agreed Dumbledore, twirling his wand around his beard. 'But I should tell you more than that before we go. I have asked all of the Hogwarts teachers to attend, as they will need to know the truth, as well as your cover story, in order for you to attend the school this year.'

David frowned. 'What do you mean, my cover story?'

'Well, you don't think that we would let you loose around Hogwarts looking identical to Harry now, do you?' asked Dumbledore humorously. Your being his twin must remain a secret, as we do not want Voldemort finding out. So you will have to be disguised. But then there is the question as to where you came from, and why you don't know as much magic as the others your age do, and therefore are taking extra lessons. So we will give you a cover story to use at Hogwarts. This, however, will be decided nearer the start of term.'

David looked surprised, but happy. 'That sounds alright, I am an actor, after all!'

Dumbledore chuckled. 'Exactly! Now, the other people attending the meeting are significant because of their connection to Harry. I have asked Mr and Mrs Weasley, as they consider themselves Harry's second parents, and are the family of his best friend, Ron. They, out of all acquaintances, deserve to know the truth. I have also asked Remus Lupin, who I have already told about you, but he should meet you in person, I think. In fact, all of them need to see you for their own eyes, that is why I have asked you to come, David.'

The young actor nodded. 'I understand, you need me as proof to your theory.'

Dumbledore noted the annoyance in his tone, and realised how the order of his words had twisted the meaning. 'No, David,' he said in such a strong tone that David had to look up. 'You are not just proof; you are a person that I want to introduce to these people. A very important person, with some great qualities, and as the matter I am holding the meeting for is to do with introducing you to the wizarding world and to education at Hogwarts, I asked you to attend.'

David smiled, and his eyes gleamed ever so slightly emerald. 'Then let's get going!' he exclaimed, eager to meet the real people of characters he had only read about and acted with.

-_when character meets actor-_

Harry woke up to the sound of Ron's snores. Squinting into the light streaming through a gap in the bright orange curtains, he could just make out his friend, sprawled across the bed with his mouth open. Yawning slightly, Harry reached for his glasses and put them on, the room soon coming into clearer focus. He glanced at his watch, and saw that it was reading 9:07 am, and decided he may as well get up, despite there being no hope of Ron being awake before 11.

He made his way down the rickety stairs to the kitchen, to find Mrs Weasley cooking bacon, and Ginny sitting at the table reading a letter, which she quickly stuffed out of sight with a slight blush as Harry sat down opposite her. 'Morning, Ginny,' he said warmly, helping himself to toast from the rack on the table.

Ginny's pink tinge remained on her face as she replied brightly, 'Hey Harry! Is my darling brother Ronald still asleep?'

Harry looked up at her with smiling eyes. 'What do you think? He's sprawled out like sleeping beauty!'

Ginny smiled back. 'Well, you never know, a miracle may happen one day!'

'What, him looking like a princess, or waking up early?'

Ginny caught Harry's eye, and they both burst out laughing.

'Both!' replied Ginny, her eyes watering from laughter.

Behind the two teenagers, Mrs Weasley prodded the bacon, trying not to laugh herself, and noting with a small smile that Harry hadn't said good morning to her yet, or even acknowledged her presence. Reluctantly, she took off the pan before the bacon burnt, and bustled over to the table, offering the sizzling slices to both of them.

'Ahh, thanks, Mrs Weasley!' said Harry, looking hungrily at the bacon.

'No problem, dear! And please, call me Molly!' Mrs Weasley had been trying to get Harry to call her and Arthur by their first names since his arrival, yet he just couldn't seem to break the habit.

'Sorry, thanks Molly,' repeated Harry with a smile.

'So what's the plan today, Mum?' asked Ginny, cutting up her bacon.

'Well dear, your Father and I have to go to a meeting this morning for 10:00. We'll be out all morning, I should expect. So it's up to you what you do, but stay in the house while we're out.'

Ginny made a sound that could have been her agreeing. She finished her mouthful politely, then asked, 'What meeting?'

Molly frowned, and Harry looked up with interest.

'An Order Meeting, but it's nothing urgent…'

Ginny frowned with an expression almost identical to her mother's. 'But you've already had the monthly meeting, if it's extra, it must be important!'

'Actually, it's none of your business, Ginny, but seeing as you ask, I don't actually know myself. Ah, Arthur dear, are you ready to go?'

Mr Weasley had just walked into the kitchen, dressed for work. 'Um, yes Molly, but aren't we-'

'Good,' his wife interrupted before he could mention that they were a little early. 'Then let's be off! See you later Ginny, Harry, and behave yourselves!'

Both Harry and Ginny blushed slightly at this comment, though neither knew why, and with a pop, both Mr and Mrs Weasley were gone, leaving them alone together in the kitchen.

-_when character meets actor-_

David and Dumbledore apperated into the street outside Grimmauld Place, David wincing slightly from the uncomfortable sensation of apperating, but looking around him in interest at the old block of street houses, with their grimy bricks and dusty windows. Beside him, Dumbledore handed him a piece of paper, and looking down at it, David saw the message: The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix can be found at No. 12 Grimmauld Place.

No sooner had he read those words, the houses in front of them began to shift along, making room for a house even dirtier than the rest, that was pushing itself into a gap between houses 11 and 13.

Staring in wonder at the appearance of the hidden house of Black, David followed Dumbledore to the door step as if in a dream, not quite believing that he was really visiting the real Grimmauld Place, yet finding it less incredible than when Harry had taken him to Hogwarts.

'Inside, David, and quietly,' muttered Dumbledore, holding the door open for him.

David stepped into the dark hallway, his eyes widening in the gloom. Behind him, Dumbledore shut the door, and with a wave of his wand, candles burst into light, casting strange shadows on the stone floor, and illuminating the row of severed house elf heads that were nailed to the walls in a flickering orange glow.

'This way, David,' called Dumbledore, leading him down the hallway to the kitchen.

The room's lights were already on when Dumbledore opened the heavy wooden door, and seated at the long table was a man wearing tattered navy robes. He had a kind face lined with scars, and grey hair, yet his young silvery eyes were sparkling with life.

He looked up when the door opened, and his eyes widened at the sight of David.

'Remus, this is David. Dave, this is Remus Lupin,' introduced Dumbledore, a smile curving at his lips.

Remus stood up, and moved forwards to shake hands. He was shorter than David had expected, yet partly this was because of a slight stoop to his shoulders, no doubt caused by years of painful transformations.

'You- you look the spitting image of James,' he whispered, as if in a dream.

'And Harry,' reminded Dumbledore with a chuckle. 'You should see him with glasses on…very nearly gave me a heart attack when I came to collect him!'

'Pleased to meet you, Remus,' said David, smiling, and held out his hand.

Remus shook himself out of his memories to smile back, taking the young actor's hand. 'And you, David,' he said warmly. 'Albus told me a lot about you, but I still didn't expect…'

David grinned. 'If you're surprised at meeting me, imagine what it was like when me and Harry first set eyes on each other!'

Remus chuckled. 'I can quite imagine! So, you act our young Harry in films?'

'That's right!' replied David. 'And I can tell you that you are quite different to the actor who plays you… much more handsome than they make you out to be!'

Remus looked amused. 'Am I really? Well thank you David, that has made my day!'

They were about to continue the conversation, but Dumbledore gently interrupted them as the sound of Mrs Black's portrait's screeches echoed down the hallway. 'Remus, David, if you could just wait in the parlour for a moment, the others are arriving, and I need to explain before anyone sees David…'

'Of course,' replied Remus, 'this way David.'

And he put a hand on his shoulder and led him to a door at the back of the kitchen.

-_when character meets actor-_

No sooner had Mr and Mrs Weasley left, Ginny let out a frustrated noise, and exclaimed, 'she did _so_ avoid talking about why a meeting has been held!'

Harry looked at her flashing eyes, and stubborn expression and couldn't help smiling. 'Yeah, but Gin, think of it this way, we have the house to ourselves!'

Ginny's annoyed expression softened, and turned to one of slight confusion, as if she wasn't sure what Harry was implying, her chocolate brown eyes showing a slight disbelieved hope.

'I mean, um, well we can do what we like, you know…' he couldn't think of anything to say and trailed off pathetically, wondering why he was often finding it hard to speak sense in front of Ginny these days.

Ginny laughed softly, and patted him gently on the arm. 'I know what you mean Harry, don't worry. How about we go up to my room?'

It was Harry's turn to look at her in confusion and disbelief. 'What?' he asked stupidly.

Ginny looked horrified. 'I mean, I wasn't implying… I-'

Harry smiled, and tried to say something that wouldn't result in further embarrassment from either of them. 'I know you weren't! And going to your room sounds like something to do…'

Ginny grinned, regaining her composure, and flicking back her mane of dark red hair, led the way up the stairs and onto the second from last landing, where there were two bedrooms; hers, and Charlie's old room, and a small toilet, the main bathroom being on the first floor.

Harry had never been into Ginny's room before. The first thing he noticed was that it smelt like something flowery that he had began to notice when in her presence, and it immediately made him feel at home.

The room itself was medium sized, painted a midnight blue with silvery stars scattered along the top section of the walls. A cosy looking double bed was tucked into one corner against two walls, fluffy pillows at its head, and a light blue, flowery patterned duvet covering the mattress. There was a large window, letting in the morning sunlight, pale lilac curtains hanging at each end; and against the final wall, a writing desk with a mirror built in, and a chest of drawers beside which was tucked her school trunk, open slightly and spilling out pieces of spare parchment and school books. On the walls were pasted various posters of what must be her favourite quidditch team, the Holly Head Harpies, zooming around on brooms, and arranged in groups.

'It's not much…' began Ginny, seeing Harry's gaze as he took in the room.

He turned to look at her. 'It's lovely,' he said, an unreadable expression in his eyes.

She smiled back nervously. 'Well, come on in, feel free to sit on the bed and make yourself comfortable.' She entered herself, and sat cross-legged on the soft rug that covered the middle of the ancient wooden floor.

Harry followed her, pulling the door shut behind him so that it stood slightly ajar, and, tempting though the cosy bed looked, joined her on the rug.

**A/N: So what do you think? Good, bad, ok... let me know please, by leaving me a review! As i said on the previous chapter, I had 107 reviews when this was on another site, but it got banned from there as the rules dont allow stories based on real people! Here, i only have 6 reviews... Make me happy and help boost the reviews up on this site! More coming soon if i have enough response!**

**Rose :)**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The kitchen of Number 12 Grimmauld Place was filled with the murmur of voices as the various numbers of people attending the meeting entered the room. Mr and Mrs Weasley, who had been among the first to arrive, were surprised to find that it was no ordinary meeting, but one with all the teachers at Hogwarts, plus themselves as the odd ones out.

'Why have we been invited to a teachers gathering?' asked Molly quietly to her husband, as they took a couple of seats at the long table.

Arthur shrugged his shoulders. 'I don't know, it does seem strange, but I suppose we will find out soon enough…'

Next to him, Professor Burbage was asking the same thing to Professor Vector. The two women were discussing why they had been invited to a meeting when they weren't direct members of the Order of the Phoenix, and why Dumbledore hadn't just waited to talk to them all in the staff day at the beginning of term.

Hagrid arrived at that moment, squeezing himself through the large doorway with difficulty, and upon seeing the Weasleys, made his way over to them and took the two seats on their right.

''Ello Molly, Arthur! Great ter see you both,' he beamed. 'D'you know why Dumbledore's called this meeting?'

'Hagrid! It's good to see you too,' replied Molly with a smile, 'and no, we've no idea why, especially as it's no normal Order meeting…'

Dumbledore himself sat in the chair at the head of the table, sitting up tall, and observing the group of chatting colleagues and friends through his half moon glasses, a smile playing on his lips at their confusion, and at the thought of all their reactions when he introduces them to David. Noting that the last teacher, Professor Trelawny, had just sat herself down in the last available seat, her eyes misty as usual, and looking as if she had wondered in by accident, he stood up, causing the interested chatter to die away instantly as all eyes fixed upon him.

'Welcome!' said Dumbledore loudly, 'and thank you for attending today's meeting. I am sure you are all wondering why I have called you here today, and why the strange selection of teachers, and friends.'

He paused for a moment, as the various witches and wizards nodded and looked around at each other.

'I have asked, as I am sure you have noticed, all of my fellow teachers at Hogwarts. This is because I need to discuss with you a new pupil, who will be attending his first and 6th year at Hogwarts this year.'

These words caused quite a stir, especially as there had never been a pupil starting Hogwarts so late in their education, and Molly and Arthur looked at each other curiously, as this matter seemed to have nothing to do with them so far.

'I have also,' continued Dumbledore, and all eyes snapped onto his once more, 'invited Molly and Arthur Weasley. This is because the pupil whom I will be discussing is somewhat connected to them. Now, I want you to listen very carefully to what I have to say. A spell has been cast on all of you as you entered the room, to ensure that none of the information discussed in this meeting can be told to anyone else who isn't present. This isn't a matter of trust; it is a matter of security. Now, onto the main reason you are here...' He looked around the room to build up to what he was about to say, then continued carefully. 'It has come into my notice that Harry Potter has an unknown identical twin living in the muggle world.'

Whispers immediately broke out around the table and shock registered on all faces, some even laughing, thinking this must be a joke. 'I knew it!' came the loud voice of Hagrid above all the rest; he was the only person present other than Dumbledore who had met David.

'This I have proved, as Harry brought the boy to see me after he bumped into him in London, and I took a DNA test, which I got Severus to confirm…' Here he looked at the sallow faced potions master, who's face showed a look of complete disgust at the idea of another Potter in existence, and that he had been the one to prove it. '…Though he did not know whose DNA he was comparing, the results were most definite. David Ranfurst has the same genes as Harry, and his parents are Lily and James Potter.'

The mutters now become louder and more interested, but Dumbledore continued speaking, raising his voice to carry over the sound. 'He is also, as I have found out, a wizard, whose name somehow escaped our lists at the age of eleven, and can most certainly do magic. He will be attending Hogwarts this year, but will have to be disguised, so that Voldemort does not receive word of his existence, and he will have to have extra lessons to bring him up to the level of his classmates. That is why I have asked all you teachers to attend, as you need to know the truth.'

Professor McGonagall, recovering from the shock of this news, raised her hand.

'Yes, Minerva?' asked Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.

'How- how is this possible? Lily and James never had twins, or not as far as we know anyway. I don't mean to doubt your word, Albus, but it does seem rather unlikely that…'

She was interrupted by others agreeing with her point. Dumbledore, however, merely smiled. 'That was also Remus' opinion when I first told him, and I do have to admit that I cannot at present explain how David is Harry's twin. However, he rather changed his mind when he met young David himself.'

Here Dumbledore moved towards the parlour door, saying as he went, 'I have a special guest present today, as I specified in the letters I sent out…' He opened the door, smiling at the sight of Remus and David talking comfortably together. They looked up when he opened the door, and at a nod from Dumbledore, David stood up, nervously scruffing up his hair.

'Follow me, David,' said Dumbledore gently, and he stepped out of the way for David to appear in the kitchen.

Everyone gasped as the teenager approached the table, looking identical to Harry except for the glasses, and staring around shyly at the crowded table.

'Everyone, I would like to introduce you to David, Harry's twin brother,' stated Dumbledore with a smile, as the room erupted with voices.

--------------------------------

When Ron woke up that morning at the delicate hour of ten past eleven, stretching comfortably, then sitting up in bed and rubbing his eyes, it was to find that Harry's bed was empty, and the house strangely silent.

Yawning, he dressed quickly, assuming that his friend was probably in the kitchen eating breakfast, and made his way downstairs.

The kitchen, however, was empty, and not even his mother seemed to be about.

With a frown, he made his way back up the stairs, and as he reached the landing below his, heard the sound of laughter coming through the shut door of Ginny's room. It wasn't just her laughter either; he could distinctly hear the deeper, manly sound of Harry's laugh.

'What the hell is Harry doing in my sister's bedroom!' thought Ron, feeling protective brotherly anger boiling inside him and beginning to bubble. He clenched his fists tightly and approached the door, then without thinking or stopping to listen to what was going on, kicked it open and burst inside.

'What the hell do you think you're-?' he began in a loud voice, stopping short as he took in the scene before him. 'Oh.'

Harry and Ginny were sitting comfortably on the floor of the bedroom, either side of a quidditch board game, their miniature teams zooming around mid match as their captains (Harry and Ginny) had commanded them.

Harry was looking up at Ron in shock, his tiny red-robed quidditch team now zooming in strange circles, and Ginny glaring at her brother in anger, her team of blue-robed figures attacking each other with the bludgers rather than the opposing team.

'Sorry,' muttered Ron, his ears a deep red that clashed with his hair. 'I just thought…'

'Thought what, exactly, Ronald?' demanded Ginny, standing up and facing him with her hands on her hips.

Harry hurriedly got to his feet too. 'Ginny, I'll deal with this,' he said firmly, ignoring her look of disbelief that he would come between herself and her brother in such matters. 'Ron, mate, let's discuss this somewhere else…'

'There's nothing to discuss!' retorted Ginny, though she had a slight smile playing at the corner of her lips.

Ron backed out of the door slowly, and Harry followed him, giving a quick wink to Ginny before closing the door.

Ginny stared dreamily at the shut door for a moment, playing her mind back blissfully over the fun time she and Harry had been having before Ron spoiled it all, and picturing Harry's gorgeous emerald green eyes and loving smile. Then she came slowly back to reality, her face falling as she remembered that she was no longer free to think of Harry in that way. Guiltily, she took out from her pocket the letter she had received that morning, and opened the crumpled folds, scanning the contents before reaching the last few lines.

_'…I really miss you, gorgeous, any chance of us meeting up before the holidays end? How about in Diagon Alley, when the school lists come? I have hardly heard from you over the summer, and you're supposed to be my girlfriend! Write back soon, I am looking forward to hearing from you properly this time, you must have something to say about your summer!_

_Lots and lots of kisses,_

_Love, Dean.'_

-------------------------------

David stood by the doorway, shaking many hands as the meeting ended and the teachers poured out of the door wishing him good luck, goodbye's and see you in September's. Finally it was just Remus, Dumbledore, Molly and Arthur left in the kitchen, and he was free to sit down with a grateful smile. Meeting so many people had been overwhelming, despite his interest in them being real life Hogwarts teachers.

'All right, David?' asked Dumbledore, with an understanding smile.

'Yes thanks, sir,' replied David, 'just a little tired.'

'I think that's understandable,' spoke up Molly, her motherly nature kicking in. 'Have you had anything to eat yet this morning?'

Behind her, Arthur rolled his eyes, and Remus and Dumbledore exchanged amused looks.

'Err, yes, I had bacon and eggs for breakfast, and a can of coke and a cookie before coming to the meeting,' replied David, trying not to laugh.

Dumbledore patted an abashed Molly on the shoulder. 'You must remember, Molly, that David has a proper muggle family, who are nothing like Harry's Aunt and Uncle. He doesn't need as much nourishing as his brother.'

Molly flushed slightly, but chuckled at her own motherliness all the same. 'Still, Harry is like a son to Arthur and I,' she explained warmly, 'which means that you, David, will always be welcome at The Burrow any time.'

'Thanks, Mrs Weasley,' said David, liking the plump red headed woman already. 'I'll keep that in mind.'

'Speaking of which,' spoke Dumbledore suddenly, 'David should probably be getting back now. I was wondering if you would take him, Arthur, I have some business to discuss with Remus.'

Mr Weasley beamed. 'I'd be delighted to. Is your house run off of eclekricity? I've only seen one recently, when collecting Harry from his relative's house, it was fascinating, it…'

'Now, Arthur,' interrupted Molly with a frown. 'That's no reason for accepting the favour of taking David home.' She then addressed David again. 'How about you come back to The Burrow for lunch, dear? I'm sure Ron and Ginny would love to meet you, and Harry's there at the moment, as you probably know, and he'd be very pleased to see you again.'

David's eyes lit up at this prospect, surprising them all with their sudden green sparkle. 'I'd love to!' he replied with a grin. 'I haven't seen Harry in ages, and I'd really like to meet Ron and Ginny. Thanks, Mrs Weasley!'

'It's no problem, dear!' Molly smiled fondly at him, then looked to Dumbledore for permission, even though her offer was already given. Luckily, the old wizard was already smiling in delight that Mrs Weasley had offered, and nodded in agreement. 'That's a wonderful idea, Molly, it will do Harry good to see David again.' He then turned to Mr Weasley, who was sulking slightly. 'Arthur, don't look so disappointed, I'm sure there'll be plenty of opportunities to see David's house.'

David smiled. 'Yeah, you can take me back there afterwards, and I'll give you a special guided tour.'

Mr Weasley beamed. 'Really? Would you? That would be wonderful, David!'

Dumbledore chuckled. 'There you go Arthur, that's even better.'

'It sure is!' he agreed happily. 'Right, come on then, David, Molly, we'd best be going.'

David nodded, then turned to Remus. 'Bye Moony, it was really nice to meet you!'

The old marauder smiled affectionately at the use of his nickname, thinking even more how like James David was. 'Goodbye David,' he replied warmly. 'It was nice meeting you too! I expect we shall meet again soon.'

David grinned. 'I hope so! See you, Professor Dumbledore.'

The headmaster's blue eyes twinkled. 'Have fun.'

David waved, then followed the Weasley's into the dark hallway, past the row of house elf heads, and sinister portraits, to the front door.

Once out in the street, he turned around just in time to see number 12 fade into nothingness again, as if it had never been there.

'You've apperated before, I presume?' asked Mr Weasley.

'Yeah,' replied David, tearing his eyes away from the wall between houses 11 and 13. 'A few times now!'

'Quite the expert then!' teased Mr Weasley, holding out his arm for David to take. 'Ready, Molly?'

His wife nodded, and turned on the spot, vanishing with a pop. After making sure David was holding on tight, Mr Weasley did the same thing, and David once more felt his lungs were being squeezed of all air before they reappeared on a lawn in front of the most interesting house David had ever seen.

---------------------------------

Dumbledore turned to Remus with a smile. 'Well I think that went well.'

Remus stretched, and leant back in his chair. 'Yes, I think you can safely assume that everyone believes that the two boys are twins without any evidence as to how. It was very nice to meet David; it astonishes me how like James he is, yet with Harry's polite and gentlemanly manners.'

Dumbledore stroked his beard thoughtfully. 'I am glad that you liked him…yet that is not hard to achieve. I think that acting has developed his personality, and views of people and the world very well. And I hope very soon that there will be a clear explanation as to how the two are so closely related. In fact, that is what I wanted to talk to you about.'

Remus looked up, his silver eyes eager and interested. 'Oh? Have you found anything out yet?'

'No, nothing new…that's not what I meant.'

Remus appeared somewhat disappointed, yet was curious as to how he could help.

'I was wondering,' continued Dumbledore, 'if you could remember the name and details of the healer who took charge of Lily after the accident and throughout her pregnancy.'

A slight shadow passed over Remus' countenance at these words. He looked sad at the memory of happier yet painful times, but nodded in reply. 'Couldn't forget her, the number of times I visited Lily in St. Mungo's. Healer Autumn was her name, Sarah Autumn. You may remember her; apparently she left Hogwarts the year we started. Long, dark brown hair and unusually bright sapphire eyes?'

Dumbledore smiled. 'Oh yes, Miss Autumn! I remember her quite well, used to teach her transfiguration, very talented witch, though her best subjects were always Potions and Herbology. I always knew she would do well in healing. Do you know where I can find her now?'

Remus frowned. 'I'm not sure…I think that she's still employed by St. Mungo's, though she may have gone private now. The hospital will be able to tell you for certain. Try them first.'

Dumbledore looked at the old marauder gratefully. 'Thank you, Remus, I know this subject brings up painful memories for you, but it is essential to know how this whole phenomenon came about, and she is one of the people who may be able to shed light on the matter.

Remus shook himself gently, and smiled, determined not to let the past haunt his present. 'I know. And I don't mind really, anything that will help Harry and David is fine by me. I'm glad to be able to help.'

Dumbledore smiled warmly back. 'And I am grateful for that. How is Nymphadora, by the way? I hear you took her out for dinner the other day.'

Remus blushed at the knowing look from the headmaster, suddenly appearing a lot younger. 'It was purely business, Albus, I've told you before; I'm not going to get involved in that way, and anyway, she doesn't like me like that.'

Dumbledore muttered something that sounded like 'and pigs can fly without magic.'

'What was that?' asked Remus, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

'Nothing, nothing!' replied the wise old wizard hurriedly.

--------------------------------------

David followed Mr and Mrs Weasley up the path that led through the front gate to the door of The Burrow, admiring the ancient, crooked walls and many added floors that looked as if they were barely attached to the rest of the house by a beam. He could only assume that the house was being held up by magic only. This wizarding house couldn't be more different from the atmosphere of Grimmauld Place; the kitchen was warm and homely, painted in bright colours, with many portraits of various red headed people hanging on the walls, and he felt a comforting, safe presence in the air around him.

'Sit down, David dear, and make yourself at home!' called Mrs Weasley, heading for the door to the landing. 'I'll just go and find Harry, Ron and Ginny… Merlin knows what they are up to!'

David smiled and sat down at one of the chairs at the table, excited at the prospect of meeting two of Harry's close friends. He wondered if it would be strange, meeting people who he had known the actors of for years, and hoped they were completely different to Ray and Emily. Looking around with interest, he noted a bowl of delicious looking cookies on the table in front of him, and itched to try one, his good manners the only thing stopping him from doing so.

'Help yourself, David,' said Mr Weasley, noticing the look of desire on the young wizard's face. 'Molly's homemade cakies, a special family recipe handed down for generations. She would want you to try one, believe me!' He winked at David, then headed out through the back door, humming a tune that sounded a lot like the Wombles song.

Left alone in the kitchen, with only the sound of a loud ticking clock to break the silence, David reached out and picked up one of the crumbly, sugary 'cakies', and took a bite, expecting the hard texture of a cookie. Instead, his teeth met a soft, buttery texture, and he closed his eyes in bliss, tasting the creamy sweetness mixed with the occasional burst of melted dark chocolate.

Just as he finished the last delicious mouthful, there was the sound of feet pounding on the stairs coming from out in the hallway. He looked up to see a grinning Harry enter the room, followed by a tall, broad shouldered teenager, who could only be Ron, his dark red hair a shade that Ray could never accomplish; and a slightly younger looking girl with long, flowing auburn hair who he guessed must be Ginny.

A sudden warm and tingly feeling rose in David's chest at the sight of his brother, and he stood up to meet Harry, who stepped towards him and gave him a brotherly hug. From their position beside the door, Ron and Ginny stared open mouthed at the two young wizards standing side by side. They looked completely identical with barely a centimetre's difference in height, yet as they took in the sight, the two Weasleys noted how David's eyes were a strange shade of hazel mixed with specks of sparkling green in comparison to Harry's purely emerald eyes, and how Harry was slightly ganglier in build, his years of bad nourishing meaning his body hadn't quite reached the solid look of David's yet.

Harry was delighted to finally introduce David to his friends, and he almost laughed at their wondrous expressions. 'David, this is my best mate Ron,' he said proudly, gesturing slightly towards him, then in a warm voice added, 'and this is Ginny.'

As Ron moved forward with a grin to shake David's hand, and a 'great to meet you, mate!' Ginny waited for Harry to add the words, 'his sister', but they never came. Feeling for the first time like she was being noticed as someone other than Ron's little sister, she smiled happily at Harry, and shook David's hand, a slight flutter arising in her chest as she met the pair of eyes so familiar to Harry's.

**A/N: So, what do you think? Let me know, I would love to hear your thoughts on the story so far! And let's get those reviews boosting up people! whispers Molly's homemade cakies for those who do!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

David smiled at Ginny warmly, noting how beautiful she was with her petite curvy body, flowing auburn hair, and daintily freckled skin, and fully approved of his twin's taste. It had not escaped his notice the affectionate tone in which Harry had introduced Ginny, and he could tell by the way his brother looked at her that he was very much attracted to the young Weasley girl.

'It's great to meet you both,' he said, eyes flashing emerald as he grinned at her and Ron. 'And your parents are really lovely people, I can see why Harry likes staying here in the holidays!'

'Yeah, Mr and Mrs Weasley are wonderful,' replied Harry, glad that David had taken to his friends, as well as the closest people to parents he had.

Ron suddenly noticed the biscuits, in their tempting spot in full view of the room. His eyes lit up, and he moved over to the table, sat down and helped himself to one of his mother's cakies. Harry, David and Ginny watched in amusement as he took a huge mouthful and closed his eyes in bliss, moaning softly, crumbs falling out of the side of his mouth.

Harry leaned towards Ginny. 'He's really getting thrills, isn't he?' he whispered into her ear.

Ginny giggled, blushing slightly at Harry's closeness. Beside them, David noted the blush and smirked. So Ginny obviously liked Harry too! He would have to get them together…

Ginny's giggle startled Ron, and looking up to see them staring at him, he immediately swallowed. 'Oh, sowwy,' he mumbled, 'Wan' one?' and he held the plate out towards them.

Ginny looked disgusted at his manners. 'No thanks, Mum'll have lunch ready soon.'

Harry however, moved to join him at the table. 'Yeah, I will…they look wonderful!'

David followed, sitting down opposite them. 'They're delicious,' he commented. 'I've already had one…' He watched as Harry took a bite, and flickered his eyes towards the slightly depleted cakie pile. '…But I don't suppose another would hurt!' he added, not able to resist, and reaching out to take one of the smaller ones.

Ginny rolled her eyes, muttering, 'boys!' and sat down beside David, leaning her elbows on the table top, and resting her chin in her palms.

David turned to look at her, holding his bitten cakie in one hand. 'Are you sure you don't want one, Ginny?' he asked. 'They're really soft and buttery and chocolaty…'

Ginny couldn't help but laugh. 'I know! They're my mothers speciality, I have had them before you know!'

'Oh yeah…' mumbled David, looking slightly embarrassed.

Ginny thought he looked cute; rather like Harry when he says something stupid. She sighed. 'But seeing as you insist, I'll have just a small one,' she said, reaching for the plate.

Harry, who had been watching his brother persuade Ginny to eat a cakie, all the time wishing he were the one sitting next to her, immediately grabbed the plate and passed it to her, feeling for some reason rather annoyed at David. 'Here you go, Gin,' he said with a smile, deliberately using her nickname. His hand brushed hers as she took the plate, and she looked rather shocked. Was Harry flirting with her?

'Thanks,' she muttered, not quite sure how to react.

David grinned to himself, and almost shook his head at Harry's behaviour. He had barely spent five minutes in his company, and his twin was jealous already!

There was the sound of footsteps, and Mrs Weasley appeared in the kitchen. Her smile turned to an affectionate frown as she saw them all eating cakies, only minutes before lunch. 'Honestly, Ronald, Ginevra, you should know better!' she exclaimed, trying to sound reprimanding, but failing under the gaze of Harry and David. Looking at the twins' innocent faces she smiled, her soft spot for Harry, and now David, becoming apparent. 'Oh never mind…just as long as you eat your lunch, I don't want to cook for nothing!'

'Sorry Mrs Weasley,' said Harry, 'but your cakies were just too delicious to resist!'

'Yeah Mrs Weasley, they're the best!' agreed David. 'And don't worry, we're really hungry, and will certainly eat anything you put in front of us!'

Mrs Weasley's countenance crinkled in pleasure. 'Why thank you dears!' she said. Then her eyes twinkled. 'Anything?'

Harry laughed.

'Well no…' answered David, realising what he had just said. Mrs Weasley patted him affectionately on the arm.

'Never mind dear,' she said, bustling over to the oven to start preparing food.

-----------------------

Professor Dumbledore stood outside a small cottage on the outskirts of Diagon Alley. He looked at a piece of paper in his hand, upon which an address was written, and checked that he had the street name, and house name, correct. Satisfied that he was indeed in the right place, he knocked on the door and waited for a reply, staring interestedly at the building's ancient stonework and tracing with his eyes a pattern of ivy stems etched into the stone. There was a movement from behind one of the veiled windows and then the door opened to reveal a beautiful witch with long, dark wavy hair and startling violet eyes.

'Healer Autumn?' asked Dumbledore with a smile, although he would recognise those unusual eyes any day.

'Yes,' smiled the woman. 'And what do I owe the pleasure, Professor Dumbledore?'

'Ah, you remember me then!' twinkled Dumbledore.

'Of course…besides, you're headmaster of Hogwarts, most witches and wizards should recognise you!'

Dumbledore sighed. 'Very true my dear, very true. May I come in?'

The healer smiled and stepped aside. 'Of course! Come this way.'

She shut the door and led the way into a small and cosy sitting room. 'Sit down, Sir, would you like a cup of tea?'

Dumbledore smiled and sat in one of the armchairs. 'Thank you, yes that would be lovely, and please, call me Albus!'

She gave a small chuckle and disappeared through an adjoining door that Dumbledore assumed must lead to the kitchen, shutting it behind her.

She had barely disappeared when there was the pounding of feet on the stairs. A young girl who looked around the age of Ginny appeared in the hallway just outside the lounge, her shining dark brown hair as long and wavy as Healer Autumn's. 'Mum, have you seen my- Oh! Professor Dumbledore, what are you doing here?'

She stopped short and stared at the headmaster in astonishment. He met her set of bright, silvery eyes in return, a wave of shock descending on him as he realised whose eyes they reminded him of.

Before either of them could speak, the door to the kitchen opened once more and Sarah Autumn appeared again, hovering a tray of two cups on saucers and a pot of tea in front of her. She lowered it quickly onto a table at the sight of her daughter, her pretty face paling and becoming lined with worry as she looked from her to Dumbledore.

'Skyla! What are you doing down here?' she asked in a quiet voice.

The girl frowned in concern, then smiled lightly. 'Mum, are you all right? Only you look like you've seen a ghost. And in answer to your question, I live here too; I think I have a right to go downstairs! I was coming to ask you if you'd seen my transfig book actually. The summer's coming to an end and I should really get some homework done, as I told you…'

Healer Autumn attempted a smile. 'I'm fine honey; you just shocked me, that's all. I thought you'd be shut up in your room for a few hours doing homework or owling your friends.'

'Well I was but-'

'I know, your transfiguration book. It's on the windowsill behind the easy chair; you left it there at the beginning of the holidays…'

Skyla's eyes lit up, and Dumbledore again felt that strange feeling of familiarity. The similarity could not be a coincidence…

'Thanks Mum!' she made to go over to the window to retrieve her book, but stopped, placing her hands on her slim waist. 'Why is the headmaster here?' she asked, rather cheekily, a grin dimpling her soft ivory cheeks.

Sarah sighed. 'I actually don't know myself, Sky, he was just about to tell me when you interrupted.'

'Oh… sorry.' The young girl looked quite sweet all of a sudden, and genuinely guilty for interfering.

Her mother's eyes softened. 'Never mind sweetie. Now, how about you go back to your room and let Professor Dumbledore speak to me?'

Skyla grinned at them for a moment, as if contemplating disobeying her mother. Then she sighed, and rubbed her nose once before going to retrieve her book from behind the easy chair. 'Goodbye, Sir!' she called, bounding out of the room again and flashing him a smile over her shoulder.

Dumbledore chuckled. 'Goodbye Skyla.'

Healer Autumn waited until the sound of her daughter's footsteps reached the rooms above, then sat down opposite Dumbledore, looking worried again.

'So, you wanted to speak to me?' she asked nervously.

Dumbledore regarded her carefully. 'Yes, I did… I never knew you married, Sarah.'

The healer's face tensed at these words. 'I didn't…' she replied stiffly.

'Oh,' replied Dumbledore, though he had guessed this was the case. 'May I ask…?'

'Who Skyla's father is?' finished Sarah with a sigh. 'Don't mess me around Albus, if you know, or have a vague guess, then tell me outright.'

Dumbledore sank back in his chair. 'You are right, Miss Autumn, in thinking that I know, and can therefore guess. It was obvious by just looking at her. Skyla has her father's eyes…'

Sarah sighed, a shadow of regret and sadness passing over her. 'I know…'

The old wizard looked at her gently. 'Then, I am right in guessing that Remus is her father?' he asked quietly and sincerely.

Sarah looked at him honestly. 'Yes, you are right.'

-----------------------

Laughter filled the kitchen of The Burrow as Harry, David, Ron and Ginny sat around the table enjoying one of Mrs Weasley's delicious cold lunches. David had been telling them all about his filming days, and was just explaining how he had felt when shooting the kissing scene in the room of requirement.

'…And then we had just locked lips in a comfortable manner when the director yelled 'cut!' But Kath was enjoying kissing me so much that she wouldn't stop! He must have yelled for her to stop at least five times.' He turned to Ginny, and joked, 'I guess I must be a good kisser!' Ginny laughed, and hit his arm playfully.

'Yeah right, in your dreams maybe!' she said, munching on a piece of buttered bread. David glanced at Harry who was sitting opposite them, an unsettled frown on his face as he stared coolly at his twin. He chuckled to himself as Harry broke his gaze to lean forward and speak Ginny's name, telling her a joke about quidditch, whilst grinning affectionately at her. She flicked back her long red hair, and smiled back in return, her freckled cheeks flushing a delicate shade of pink, but laughed lightly and turned to speak to Ron, leaving Harry watching her intently, a slightly confused expression on his face.

Mrs Weasley observed the teenagers with a smile, knowing full well what was going on in their minds. She looked in amusement at David, who gave her a wink in return. She had watched his clever attempts at being almost flirty with her daughter, enjoying, like him, Harry's jealous reaction and open flirting with Ginny in response. Her son Ronald, on the other hand, seemed to have noticed nothing, enjoying his food enthusiastically, and listening absentmindedly to the stories David had to tell.

'So Dave, mate, am I much like my actor?' he asked at that moment, helping himself to ice cream.

David looked him once over, then grinned. 'No, far from it! Ray may have the ginger hair and all, but his character couldn't be more different than yours! He's much shyer, and I must say a little boring at times, but when he's acting you, well it's like watching him now, he has your character that good.'

Ron looked alarmed. 'Am I that easy to copy?'

'No, just an absolute legend!'

At these words, Ron's ego swelled, and Ginny and Harry couldn't help laughing at his next question. 'But I am more handsome than him, right?'

Trying to keep his face straight, David managed to reply, 'of course you are!'

They finished eating, and scraped their plates clean, leaning back in their seats comfortably, praising Mrs Weasley on her delicious cooking.

She looked pleased, and smiled at them all affectionately. 'Thank you dears, it was no problem,' she replied happily. 'You have about two hours before Arthur comes home, David, he'll take you back then.'

She bustled over to the sink with the dirty plates, then left the room, leaving the clock ticking loudly in the cosy silence, and the sound of clucking chickens drifting in from the yard outside.

'I have a great idea,' announced Ron suddenly, causing them to look at him curiously. 'Let's teach David to play quidditch!'

-----------------------

Dumbledore's eyes immediately saddened at Healer Autumn's words. 'I gather that you haven't told Remus that he has a daughter?' he asked seriously.

'No,' confirmed Healer Autumn softly. Then she added in an even quieter voice, 'I haven't told Skyla anything about who her father is either. When she asks, I tell her I don't know. The older she gets the harder it is to lie, well, you could see for yourself what a curious girl she is, and-'

Dumbledore sighed and interrupted her gently. 'Sarah, you should have told him. I don't know what went on between you and Remus, or why you broke up, but I do know that he would have wanted to know that he has a daughter. He is caring enough to forget anything negative that might have happened and want to come back to you, if only for love for Skyla.'

Sarah's eyes hardened. 'No. Remus would not have returned to me if he had known. He never cared deeply enough about me, if he did he wouldn't have…' she broke off, not wanting to go into details of what had happened. She closed her eyes in pain, opening them again to meet the deep and concerned gaze of Dumbledore's clear blue eyes.

She sighed. 'Look. Albus, I know that you are good friends with Remus, and that you feel it your duty to help me and give advice, but really, I have coped on my own without any help since Lily's death, and certainly without Remus around. I don't need him, and I beg you not to press me to contact him. Now, why exactly are you here anyway? I haven't seen you since my last year at Hogwarts, and even then you were only my teacher…'

Dumbledore felt annoyed and his eyes flashed slightly. He ignored her question. 'No, you may not need Remus around, Sarah, but what about Skyla? Have you thought about her feelings in all this?'

The healer's cheeks flushed bright red and she glared at Dumbledore angrily. 'How dare you challenge me about not caring for my own daughter!' she breathed. 'You, who didn't even notice her around before now even though she has been at Hogwarts for four years? You, who don't even know me, or know what hell I have had to go through after Remus left me, after the only woman and close friend I had died? No, I care very much about Skyla, Professor, more than you can ever know.' She was crying now, the silent tears shining on her cheeks. Dumbledore moved over to kneel in front of her, and took her hands in his. She flinched, but didn't let go, staring at her feet.

'I am sorry,' he began, 'to have vexed you so. I didn't mean to upset you, Sarah, please, don't cry. I believe that you care for your daughter deeply, just as any mother would.'

The healer looked up, her violet eyes suddenly embarrassed. 'I know… and I'm sorry for breaking down like this,' she whispered, taking her hands out of the older wizard's and wiping her damp face with a tissue from the table beside her.

Dumbledore smiled. 'All I ask… and after that I will not bother you about it any more… is that you tell Skyla the truth. You do not need to contact Remus, or anything you don't wish to do, but please, at least tell her the truth, at the age of fifteen she deserves to know. And better you tell her than her finding out herself. The older she gets the harder it will be, and the madder she will be at you for not telling her.'

Sarah looked defeated. Her shoulders sagged and she lowered her eyes. 'You are right,' she murmured finally. 'Of course you are right, you always are, Albus.' She gave a watery chuckle. 'Every part the wise old wizard, and not a bit changed with age.'

He returned her chuckle, eyes twinkling warmly. 'And you, ever the brave, clever

witch I once taught. Use that sense of yours now; do what is right even if it means bringing up painful memories, and most of all, trust your heart.'

She nodded, and smiled thankfully at him. 'Thank you, I will do as you advise and tell Skyla the truth about her father. She deserves to know.'

'Good!' murmured Dumbledore. 'And I always think a pensieve helps very much for a person to understand serious things that have been kept from them. If you need one, don't hesitate to contact me. Now, to business!'

-----------------------

David swung his leg over the hovering broomstick, not quite believing that he was doing this, nor that it would actually work, yet with a certain excitement and determination. As soon as he was seated, hands gripping the slim handle, he felt a sudden warmth rush through his body, and he turned to Harry eagerly, waiting to be told what to do next.

Harry smiled at the vision of his twin sitting naturally on his firebolt, the strange and unaccounted for jealousy he had felt at him over lunch slipping away and becoming forgotten in the prospect of teaching David to fly.

'You look great!' he called, 'how do you feel?'

David grinned back. 'Fantastic, but what do I do next?'

'Push off from the ground, then lean forward to direct the broom up. You'll pretty much find that it responds to your thoughts and the slightest movement of your body. Are you ready?'

David nodded.

'Then off you go!' commanded Harry, his eyes sparkling in the sunlight.

David pushed off from the ground and the firebolt zoomed swiftly into the sky, moving at his direction. It wasn't long before it was clear that David, like Harry, was a natural.

'Woohoo!' yelled David, becoming a blur in the vast blueness. Harry shielded his eyes with a hand, grinning as his twin swerved around the trees.

Beside him, Ginny smiled. 'Ever the talented quidditch captain,' she complimented, looking at Harry out of shining brown eyes.

He looked at her in surprise, taking his eyes off of the blur that was David. 'Do you really think so?'

'Of course!' Her hair flashed many shades of red and gold in the bright sun as she flicked it back and added casually, 'they will be appointing a new captain of the Gryffindor team this year, and I bet it will be you.'

Harry's heart swelled with pride. Or so he thought; this feeling that was flooding his heart seemed to be entirely new. 'Thanks, but I-'

'Wow!' exclaimed Ron suddenly, interrupting him and pointing up to where David was flying.

Ginny turned to see what he was looking at and smiled. 'Dave's a great flyer,' she commented. 'For a first time on a broom he's doing brilliantly!'

Harry felt the anger at his brother rising in his chest, and again he didn't understand why. 'Yeah, well, I taught him, didn't I?' he muttered. Luckily Ginny didn't hear him, and he felt immediately guilty, aware of how bitter and selfish that had sounded.

-----------------------

Dumbledore reached out and helped himself to a cup of tea from the tray on the table, then took a sip, regarding Healer Autumn from behind the brim.

'You were Lily Potter's healer,' he stated, 'after her accident and during her pregnancy, am I right?'

Sarah frowned; this was also coming very close to the subject of Remus that she really wished to avoid. 'Yes, I was. Why do you ask?'

'Only it has been recently brought to my attention that Harry Potter, Lily and James' son, has an identical twin brother that nobody knew about.'

Healer Autumn's eyes widened in shock. 'No!' she exclaimed, 'no, that cant be true! I looked after Lily myself, was there at the birth. No way did she have twins!'

Dumbledore was pleased by this confirmation. 'I didn't think so,' he said. 'That is why I have come to see you. You see, I have met this twin, David, is his name, and he looks the splitting image of Harry, and James when he was their age. I also took a DNA test, and its results showed that Lily and James are his biological parents. Yet here's the catch; Rosemary Ranfurst, his mother, remembers her pregnancy and giving birth to David! He isn't adopted or anything, and by all legal papers her son.'

Sarah looked confused. 'I don't get it,' she said quietly.

Dumbledore looked at her closely. 'Rosemary told me some interesting things,' he continued. 'She said that David was born on the 31st of July, at four o clock in the morning. This is the exact time that Harry was born. Also, early on in her pregnancy she was in an accident. Yes, the same one as Lily was caught up in. She was taken to hospital, where the doctors patched her up, but said that it was unavoidable that she would miscarriage. Yet when they checked, when they made their investigations, it was to find that the baby David was unharmed.'

He finished talking, and looked at Healer Autumn, who wore a slightly haunted expression. 'But it, it can't be!' she said finally. 'That is exactly what happened to Lily! I mean, I always wandered how her child survived the brunt of the accident; to me it was a miracle, she said it must have been her protection charm.'

Dumbledore's eyes lit up with hope. 'Protection charm? What do you mean by that?'

Sarah looked thoughtful. 'Well you knew Lily, so you must have known how she loved to experiment as a hobby outside of her job as a healer. She was always discovering new charms and cures for the good of others, and I never knew half of the things she had uncovered or made. Apparently she was working on a protection charm for women to place on themselves when pregnant to 'cushion' the baby as such. All I can say is that it must have worked. I never expected her growing baby to survive that accident, thought she'd miscarriage for sure.'

She stopped talking, a smile now on her lips at the memories of Lily, and sipped her tea, amused by the expression on Dumbledore's face. 'Of course, there's no way of finding out the spell she used,' she said slyly, trying not to laugh, and watching Dumbledore's expression turn from that of extremely happy and enlightened, to that of complete dismay. 'She only left her entire collection of files containing her life's work and discoveries, in my care.'

'What!' exclaimed Dumbledore, staring at her laughing face and twirling his beard round his finger anxiously. Then he relaxed, realising what she had just said. 'Don't tease me like that, Sarah; take pity on an old man's nerves!' he said, joining in the joke.

She smiled, the lines of worry disappearing from her face, a picture of pure beauty once more. 'Sorry Albus, but your expression was priceless!'

'So, you have the files containing her notes on this protection spell?' he asked, more seriously.

'I do,' she replied. 'They're in the store cupboard, you're welcome to take a look.'

'Thank you,' replied Dumbledore, 'that would be wonderful.'

-----------------------

Harry sat comfortably on a mossy tree stump in the Weasley's orchard, watching Ginny and Ron racing each other through the trees. Above him, he knew David was circling on his firebolt, and wished he could be the one flying instead.

There was a slight thump from behind him, followed by the rustle of leaves and he looked round to see David sit down beside him, his face glowing from the excursion, and dark hair ruffled up in a wind swept manner. Harry sighed, feeling immediately hostile, and continued to watch Ginny, following her flash of red hair as it merged among the green and leafy branches of the apple trees.

David shielded his eyes and followed Harry's gaze. 'She's a great girl, is Ginny,' he said casually, glancing at his twin out of the corner of his eye.

Harry turned his head slightly. 'Yeah, she is…' he muttered, still not looking at David.

'So when you going to ask her out then?'

Harry immediately turned and flashed surprised green eyes at him, wandering if he had heard him right. 'What?' he asked in bewilderment.

David chuckled. 'Harry, it's so damn obvious that you fancy Ginny! And she's perfect for you, you should ask her out!'

'I don't fancy Ginny!' exclaimed Harry.

David raised his eyebrows quizzically, and Harry smiled sheepishly. 'Fine, I guess I do like her…' he answered, then looked at David in worry. 'Is it really that obvious?'

'Yep!' he replied casually. 'And I think she feels the same way about you too.'

At these words, Harry felt shocked, and he ruffled his hair nervously. 'No,' he began, surprising David with his sincerity. 'No, Ginny used to fancy me, but she got over that a long time ago. Besides, she has obviously taken to you a lot.' He added this bit as casually as possible, but he knew he sounded bitter, and David picked up on it immediately.

'Harry, I don't fancy Ginny! Come on, I've only just met her! I mean, she's a lovely girl and everything, very attractive and sweet, but she's really not my type! Too fiery and outgoing, and besides, she's already taken.'

Harry stared at him in confusion. 'Already taken?' he repeated in confusion.

'Yeah, by you!' replied David, his hazel eyes sparkling with emerald.

Harry's confused eyes lit up, matching his twins' perfectly as they filled with gleams of realisation. Then he laughed and thumped David playfully on the arm.

'Hey!' protested David, and thumped him back. Harry pushed him off of the tree stump in return. They fought brotherly for a little while, the summer sun beating down on their backs, and the firebolt hovering forgotten beside them. Then David lay back in the grass and sighed. 'Mate, you don't know how funny it was watching you try to compete with me for Ginny's affections. The friendlier I was to her, the more you flirted with her. I don't know what she must have thought!'

Harry groaned. 'Don't!' he replied, feeling embarrassed at his actions. 'I never even realised I was flirting with her. If I had, I would have stopped!'

David grinned. 'Nah, don't worry about it, she loves the attention. And if I have my way, you will certainly get together soon!'

The distant sound of yells became gradually closer, and Ron and Ginny reappeared, still racing each other with Ginny in the lead by about a centimetre. She reached Harry and David, then pulled her broom to an abrupt halt before leaping off gracefully. 'Yay, I won!' she exclaimed, just as Mrs Weasley reached the orchard, calling for them to come inside.

'I expect Mr Weasley's here to take you home,' said Harry sadly as they walked back to the house, brooms over their shoulders. 'We'll have to meet up again soon, how about to go school shopping in Diagon Alley? The Hogwarts letters should arrive next week.'

David grinned. 'That would be wonderful, you'll have to owl me with the arrangements though.'

Harry grinned back, then set his gaze on the back of Ginny's head, admiring her beautiful thick, wavy hair. 'Don't worry, I will!'

**A/N: Thanks for reading! And please review! This is the longest chapter I have written yet, and much longer than I wanted it to be, but I felt it couldn't drag on into another chapter! I am not entirely satisfied with it, and feel I could have done better, so please let me know what you think, and any suggestions, let me know! Did you like Skyla? She is my new oc, and will be featuring quite a lot from now on! Oh, and don't worry, Remus will stay 'in love' with Tonks, Skyla's coming into the picture wont change anything!**

**Rose :)**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Hermione dumped her suitcase on the floor, then sank down gratefully on her bed, looking around her friendly and welcoming room with a smile. Although she'd had a wonderful time in Ireland with her parents, she had missed being at home where there was always some privacy, and plenty of books to read.

The door opened a crack and Crookshanks appeared, padding softly across the carpet towards her, his fluffy ginger coat sleek and shiny. He jumped up beside her with a soft 'prriaw', and began rubbing against Hermione, who laughed and picked him up, hugging him gently. 'I missed you Crooky,' she crooned as he tried to get up on her shoulders.

It was then that she noticed the owl perched outside her window. It was one of the stately Hogwarts birds, its dark feathers ruffled from its journey, and beady golden eyes staring at her with an important patience.

'Sorry Crookshanks,' she murmured, placing the cat on the quilted duvet, and heading over to open the window.

Taking the letter, she recognised the seal, noting that it was indeed from Hogwarts, and upon opening it, found it contained the annual welcome letter plus the new book list, and to her relief, the renewed prefects badge she had been so proud of the year before.

She had barely shut the window when there came a great thump as something collided with the glass, and she looked up in shock to see a blurred, feathery ball that was Ron's owl Pig, fluttering excitedly up and down.

'Honestly!' she muttered, a smile playing on her lips. 'Calm down Pig!'

Crookshanks sat up on his hind legs as the tiny bird cavorted into the room and began flying round in ecstatic circles; he chased its pattern with greedy and disdainful bright eyes, beginning to attempt to pounce on the silly little owl.

Hermione groaned as the neat stacks of paper on her desk became disrupted, floating to the floor as Crookshanks leapt across the table.

'PIG! Give me that letter now!' she cried, trying to reach the owl who was now teasing Crookshanks, bouncing up and down in the air above his head, escaping by the tip of his beak each time, the letter still attached to his leg. 'Crookshanks, NO!'

With a lunge across the computer chair, Hermione reached out to capture Pig, attempting to snatch him out of the air.

Her hand closed round the feathery ball, and she smiled in triumph. 'Finally!' she exclaimed, just as the chair fell over causing her to fall to the floor amongst her sheets of homework and spare parchment.

With a yowl Crookshanks sprang onto her stomach, attempting to reach Pig, who was struggling in Hermione's fist. With an alarmed squeak, she raised her arm high out of the cat's reach, Pig giving a loud and extremely happy hoot as he soared high above his enemy.

The door opened, and Hermione's mother entered the room, looking extremely concerned. 'Hermione, what is going on-?' She stopped short at the sight of her daughter lying sprawled out on the floor amongst pages of parchment, bushy brown hair wild, cheeks flushed with anger at the cat who sat up heavily on her stomach, and arm raised straight up, clutching what looked like a ball of feathers with delighted bright eyes.

Helen Granger stifled a laugh, trying to decipher what must be going on.

Hermione's eyes flashed with annoyance. 'Don't just stand there Mum, HELP!' she gasped. 'Get this darned beast off of me!'

'Crookshanks!' called her mother sternly. 'Come here.'

The cat eyed her with mocking gleaming eyes, looking from the still cooing Pig to his mistress' mother's strict face, as if deciding which would be better to obey, his hunting instincts, or the one who fed him every day.

Mrs Granger's lips set in a thin line, and she took a step forward, hands outstretched to grab Crookshanks. Making up his mind, the cat didn't hesitate. He jumped off of Hermione in a flash and sauntered out of the door, tail high in triumph at the mischief he had caused.

Acting quickly, Mrs Granger shut the door, and Hermione struggled to her feet, hurriedly untying Ron's letter from the slightly squashed owl.

'Are you ok now?' asked Helen in a sweet sarcastic tone, eyes sparkling in humour, though she tried to look concerned.

Hermione scowled slightly, but was trying not to grin herself. 'Perfectly fine thanks Mum, just enjoying being home,' she answered, matching her sweet tone.

'Yes, it's great to be back isn't it? Very peaceful.'

'Oh yes,' smiled Hermione. 'Couldn't be more quiet.'

'Well then, if you're ok now I'll go and finish unpacking.'

Hermione forced a smile. 'I'm fine.'

Helen winked, and turned for the door. 'See you in a bit then.'

Brushing herself down, and picking up the papers off of the carpet, Hermione quickly managed to restore the room back to its normal tidy state. Pig was now perched calmly on the bed head, preening himself rather cutely, his initial excitement at seeing Hermione now disintegrated.

Sinking with relief onto her pillows, Hermione opened the creased envelope, revealing a letter in Ron's messy, yet carefully set out handwriting. A warm feeling spread all the way through her as she began to read, causing her to smile, and she wondered why she felt so happy. 'Must be just missing him and Harry', she thought, dismissing a small and uncomfortable voice that was telling her this wasn't the reason.

_'Dear Hermione,_

_'How was your holiday? I hope you had a fantastic time. I'd have written before now but I don't think Pig could reach Ireland and I didn't want to risk trying it!_

_Did you see Aiden Linch while you were there? The Irish are known for their talent at quidditch, if you didn't already know that! Anyway, I expect you are home now, so welcome back! I've been having a good holiday, mostly boring though with only me and Ginny at home, but Harry came to stay and is here now, and guess what? David came to visit for a day! You have no idea how weird it was seeing him and Harry together, they look identical! He's really nice though, you'd like him. And he says I'm a legend and much more good looking than my actor double! (Though don't doubt his sexuality, he's done his fair share of flirting with Ginny.) But really, it's been strange and kind of flat without you around. Harry and Ginny are often all gooey eyed with each other (not that they've noticed this themselves) they think I didn't either, but it's so obvious, know what I mean? I missed having you to talk to! I'm sending this just as I receive the Hogwarts letter, so I guess you'll have had yours too! I'm still a prefect unfortunately, and of course I know you will be too, as you're always the best with everything. Oh, and guess what? Harry got quidditch captain! Isn't that brilliant? He gets the same privileges as us now, and at least I'll have a better chance getting on the team! (Only joking, I know I'm rubbish and if I play badly at tryouts, Harry will be fair and not just let me on because he's my friend.) Mum says she's taking us to Diagon Alley on Saturday, and David's agreed to meet us there, can you make it too? I really hope so! If you want you can stay with us up until the 1st of September, and we'll take you to Kings Cross with us._

_Write back soon! You can use Pig to deliver back to me, I'm sure he'll be happy to stay until you've written a reply._

_Love,_

_Ronald._

_P.S. Harry and Ginny say Hi, and that they're looking forward to seeing you too!'_

Hermione stared at the letter, feeling extremely affectionate and happy towards Ron for what he had written. She read it over again with a smile. It was so typical of him to mention quidditch, and expect her to know who Aiden Linch was, and really sweet of him to welcome her home and say that he was missing her. She frowned at the mention of Harry and Ginny's closeness though, as although she knew that Ginny had been waiting for this to happen for years now, she was supposed to be going out with Dean! Yet Hermione couldn't help feeling smug and pleased about it if they really were finally falling for each other. But the thing that confused her the most about this letter was that Ron seemed to be- dare she say it- implying that he cared for her, more than usual that is, in an almost romantic way. She looked at the ending where he had signed off, taking in the word 'love' and finding her cheeks flushing slightly. Also he had signed it Ronald, not Ron, and he only ever tolerated that name when she called him by it…

Feeling extremely confused and somewhat worried about how she was beginning to feel, she decided to ignore the matter and just reply in a practical manner, squashing down all feelings of deep affection that seemed to have taken her over. 'He's my best friend' she thought firmly. 'Nothing more'. Yet as she took out a piece of parchment and quill to write a reply, she couldn't help smiling at the thought of Ron's often befuddled expression, freckled face, and shining brown eyes…

-----------------------

Ron's eyes lit up, appearing to shine golden in the bright sunlight beating down onto the street outside The Leaky Cauldron. 'Hermione!' he called warmly, causing Harry, Ginny and Mrs Weasley to look around and smile as they noticed Hermione hurrying up the road towards them, curly brunette hair flowing softly over her shoulders.

'Ron,' she exclaimed happily, at first seeming about to engulf him in a hug, but then stopping at the last minute, holding back as if shy. Ron however, didn't hesitate, and wrapped his arms around her affectionately, pulling away rather reluctantly so that she could greet the others.

Ginny and Harry exchanged amused glances. 'Good to see you Hermione,' said Harry with a chuckle, pulling her into a sisterly hug. 'Good holidays?'

'Not bad, thanks. Rather marred by a certain owl's crazy and completely disastrous greeting upon return, but apart from that, pretty good!' she said, looking pointedly at Ron with a teasing and rather sarcastic smile.

He groaned. 'Don't! I'm sorry ok! Pig was just pleased to see you…'

Hermione's expression softened. 'I know, I was only teasing, though it was rather a close shave. Crookshanks nearly ate him!'

Harry and Ginny were looking at the two curiously, trying to work out what they were talking about, when Mrs Weasley's voice interrupted, alerting them to the arrival of David. 'David dear! You found us all right then?'

'Yeah no problem thanks, though I had to make sure I wasn't followed… I don't want the press spoiling this day for any of us.' He turned to greet his brother and friends with a grin. 'Heya guys.'

Harry grinned back, matching his expression exactly, and Hermione's eyes widened with interest. 'Oh my!' she said softly, putting a hand to her mouth. Then she smiled, deciding she rather liked seeing Harry with a twin, some real family at last. 'Sorry, it's just so weird seeing the two of you together,' she apologised. 'Nice to meet you at last, David.'

Ron assured her that it does take some time to get used to, and Harry laughed. 'Dave, this is Hermione, in case you hadn't gathered!' he said cheerfully, happy that everyone had met his twin now.

David chuckled. 'Nice to meet you too, Hermione,' he said warmly, taking in her features and slightly surprised to find that she didn't look at all like Emily.

Mrs Weasley beamed fondly at the group of chatting teenagers, but her eyes darted warily along the dingy muggle street. Reluctantly she moved to brake up the reunion. 'Ron dear, we really must all get a move on, and David, we're going to need to disguise you before we enter the pub.'

She bustled over to him, wand held out at the ready. David's green-flecked eyes clouded to hazel and he ruffled his hair nervously, taking a step back. 'Err…'

Molly frowned. 'What is it dear? This wont hurt, its only a simple spell.'

David moved slightly behind Ron, whose tall frame offered protection. He muttered something that sounded like 'dnwnabegirlgain', and Harry, realising what the matter was, burst out laughing, ignoring the annoyance on his twin's face. 'You see Mrs Weasley,' he managed between splutters, 'when I first met David, I had to place a disguise on him so we could go into the muggle shops without attracting attention. It, well, it turned him into a girl!'

Ron started to splutter, joining Harry in laughter, and Ginny and Hermione wore pained expressions as if trying their utmost not to smile, and failing miserably.

Mrs Weasley however, looked amused. 'Well now David, I assure you that I will not turn you into a girl,' she said sweetly. 'Unless you want me to that is?'

David shook his head, beginning to grin himself.

'Didn't think so! Now, the spell I am going to use is one that Dumbledore instructed me to disguise you with. It is more of a reflection charm. Anybody who looks at you out of the corner of their eye may think they saw Harry, but if they look directly at you, your face will be distorted into completely different (and don't worry, perfectly normal and male) features, and your hair a lighter colour. Anybody who knows your true identity, however, will see you as you are. Happy?'

'Yeah, that sounds all right. I think I can live with that.' David's eyes sparkled green again.

Mrs Weasley glanced round the street once more. 'Good, now let's get a move on shall we?' and she tapped her wand to David's head, muttering 'visule repellio'.

David felt as if a fine and cool spray of water had just passed over his face. He blinked, and the sensation disappeared as quickly as it had come.

Mrs Weasley studied him at arms length. 'There, I think that did the trick,' she said with a smile. 'Now, everyone into the pub. After you Ron.' She gave her youngest son a push, stopping him from continuing to stare at David; he had been trying to work out if anything had changed with the charm.

They turned towards the Leaky Cauldron, its grimy building fitting snugly in-between 'Smiths Second Hand Books' and 'Maggie Dry Cleaning', and entered one by one through the rotting yellow door.

It took a while for their eyes to adjust to the dim and smoky light inside, and David looked around with interest at the wizard's pub, having only ever been on the set for it, which was obviously a lot different.

'It's a bit dodgy in here,' Harry muttered into his ear, 'but the lounge and the upstairs rooms are alright if you have to stay for a few nights.'

'So I've heard,' answered David. 'And would I be right to avoid eating the pea soup?'

Harry chuckled. 'Well I wouldn't know. I was never brave enough to try it!'

Mrs Weasley soon ushered them past the bar, where Tom stood polishing a collection of glasses.

'Mornin' Molly,' he said with a toothy grin. 'Hogwarts shopping?'

'Hello Tom, yes its that time of year again. Got to get this lot their school stuff.'

The bar man peered at Harry, Hermione and David, noting that they didn't have the crop of Weasley red hair. 'Not all yours, I see… ah Mr Potter! Good to see you, how've you been?'

'Fine thanks,' replied Harry politely. 'But we can't stop to chat today, there's lots to do.'

'Of course, of course, wouldn't dream of holding you and your friends up.' He glanced at David without much interest, then suddenly snapped his eyes back onto his face as if something about his looks had startled him. 'Thort for a minute… nah never mind,' he muttered, almost to himself.

'Right, well see you later Tom,' said Mrs Weasley loudly, obviously relieved to know that her charm had worked, and she lead the way out into the back yard, where she proceeded to tap the combination of bricks that would merge into the entrance to the alley. They moved apart with a slight grumbling sound, and the loud sound of chatter and laughter filtered through from the busy and colourful street.

'Right, well who's going where then?' Asked Molly, taking out her purse from her handbag.

'We're all going to shop for David's stuff with him,' explained Ron.

'Well I'll leave you all to it then and meet you later… shall we say Fred and George's shop, twelve o clock?'

'Sounds fine to me,' replied Harry. 'Thanks Mrs Weasley.'

'No problem dear,' she answered with a wink, heading off towards the magical cooking appliance shop, and soon disappearing into the crowd. Ginny made to follow her, and Harry called out in surprise. 'Ginny? Aren't you coming with us?'

She turned to face him, her thick and shining ponytail flicking forwards as she did so, cheeks flushing slightly and eyes saddening. 'Sorry Harry. I, well, I promised I'd meet Dean,' she muttered guiltily, looking as if that were the very last thing she felt like doing.

'DEAN?' exclaimed Ron, as Harry felt his heart drop in his chest. 'Why the hell are you meeting Dean?'

Ginny glanced at Hermione, who gave her an apologetic look in return. Whatever was going on, she knew about it.

'I think maybe because I have the right to meet up with my boyfriend Ronald,' answered Ginny, eyes hardening as if daring him to challenge this piece of news.

Harry suddenly didn't know where to look, feeling confused as a wave of emotions engulfed him; anger at Dean, disappointment that Ginny was not to be spending the morning with them, and extreme sadness at the thought that she liked Dean better than him. He met his twin's astonished and disapproving gaze, glad to see that he wasn't the only one who had been taken in by Ginny's affection towards him, and grateful for the sympathetic look that Dave then gave him.

'Your boyfriend?' spluttered Ron. 'But you, you cant…'

'Cant what, Ronald?' asked Ginny wearily, hands now on hips in a defiant manner.

Hermione put a hand on Ron's shoulder, warning him calmly to drop the matter.

He sighed in defeat. 'Why did I not know about this?'

'Honestly, do I have to tell you everything about my love life, Ron?' At his fierce and blank face she sighed, adding, 'Because I knew you would overreact in this way, that's why.'

'But what about Har- I mean, somebody else?' He looked pointedly at Harry, who was studying his feet, trying not to look at Ginny. 'Why Dean?'

Ginny followed his look, picking up on the hint and seeming to hesitate slightly as she answered. 'Because… oh I don't know! Because he likes me, maybe, and had the courage to tell me so. Now if you don't mind, I'm running late already. I'll see you later…' And with one last regretful glance towards Harry, who was now looking at her with puzzled and searching eyes, she ran off through the crowd before the hot tears gathering beneath her eyelids threatened to fall.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Sorry this took so long to get up… and it was supposed to carry on some more, but the word count was getting too high! (like over 6000) Anyways, will continue in chapter 12, which will be sooner in coming! Hope you enjoyed reading it, and please review!**

**Rose :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Ron turned to Hermione, obviously aggravated. 'Did you know about Ginny and Dean?' he asked.

Hermione sighed. 'Yes I did… she's been going out with him for a while now. And if she didn't want to tell you about it, that's not my fault.'

Ron looked hurt. 'I never said it was… but really, I mean all her behaviour this summer pointed to-'

He broke off suddenly at the frown on Hermione's face. She nodded towards Harry, obviously not wanting Ron to go on about it in front of him.

'You don't have to worry about me,' Harry suddenly spoke up for the first time since hearing Ginny's news, a false smile on his face. 'If Ginny wants to go out with …him, then its up to her. It doesn't bother me, why should it?' His eyes had taken on a hard and determined expression. 'Come on, we're supposed to be showing David around. It is his first time here after all.'

Hermione, Ron and David all looked at each other knowingly, then shrugged. If Harry wanted to believe that they hadn't noticed his feelings for Ginny, then it was best to go along with it.

They started walking down the cobbled street, merging with the bustling crowd, and heading towards the nearest shop, where colourful sweets and candies of all shapes and sizes lined the window, and a group of drooling children stood with noses pressed to the glass, chatting longingly of what sweets they wished to buy.

Ron started to move over to join them, interested as always when food is involved, but Hermione grabbed his elbow. 'Not now Ron,' she said with a laugh.

He pulled an adorable expression, eyes wide and pleading. 'Aww, please Hermione?'

She blinked, eyes going soft for a brief moment before hardening again. 'No!'

David turned to Ron, eyes glinting boyishly at the thought of magical sweets. 'Come on Ron, let's go in. You can show me which sweets are the best, I've never been into a magical sweet shop before.'

Ron's eyes lit up, and before she could say anything more, the two boys rushed into the shop, squeezing past kids half their size to reach the first lot of shelves. Hermione and Harry followed at a slower pace, even Hermione's displeasure disappearing with the smell of sugar and sweet strawberries and coconut that filled the shop.

''Mione, taste some purple gumfluff…' Ron's hand touched Hermione's, pressing a heart shaped sweet into her palm. She took it with a smile, enjoying the soft and fruity sensation on her tongue. 'Thanks Ron!' But he had already moved deeper into the shop with David, like a kid in its dreamland.

When they finally emerged from the shop after sampling many tasty delights, Harry suggested that their next stop should probably be Gringotts; both he and David needed money to continue shopping. 'We don't all need to go though…I'll take David, and Ron- you and Hermione can meet us in about half an hour,' he suggested, grinning at the opportunity to leave his two best friends alone for a while.

'Ok,' agreed Ron, looking to Hermione for confirmation. 'We'll find a café or something.'

'Perfect… see you outside Madam Malkin's then,' finished Harry, and he started off towards the huge white building at the end of a side street, David stepping into place alongside him.

----------------

Ginny and Dean walked hand in hand along the street, heading towards a café called 'Rainbow Smoothies'. Ginny felt glad for the slight break. Dean had kissed her once since meeting up, mostly interested in the different shops although he was sweet enough towards her, offering to buy her pretty things and always asking where she wanted to go first. He seemed just as happy going out with her as he had before the holidays, but for Ginny the spark had gone. She felt as if she were spending the morning with one of her friends, Colin, for example, or even Skyla. Dean did most of the talking too, mainly about something called 'football', a seemingly boring muggle version of quidditch with no brooms and only one ball. As she looked at his lithe, dark build, and listened to him chat on happily about the games he had seen, she couldn't help but wish she were with Harry instead. They'd had so much fun together over the time he'd been staying at The Burrow, and although she couldn't confirm this with anyone, as Hermione had not been there, she could have sworn that he was actually flirting sometimes! She had definitely noticed a change in his friendliness towards her anyway, although that may just be wishful thinking on her part. She had long learned not to expect anything other than friendship from Harry, but that hadn't stopped her from hoping…

'Ginny?'

She pulled her thoughts away from Harry with a start, looking at Dean in confusion. 'Sorry? I didn't hear what you just said…'

Dean laughed and pulled her into a hug. 'Thinking about how handsome I am, hey?'

Ginny bit her lip. 'Yeah, that would be it,' she agreed, flicking back her ponytail and trying not to sigh. Dean was being so sweet she hated to seem like she wasn't enjoying herself. 'So what were you saying?' she asked with a smile, trying to lighten her own mood for his sake.

'I just suggested we should maybe go inside now?' Dean motioned to the door of Rainbow Smoothies Café, the window shimmering with animations of the fruity drinks they served.

'Sure…I could use a drink. I'll pay this time, though.'

Dean looked slightly put out. 'No, there's no need. I like treating you! That's what boyfriends should do.' He smiled and opened the door. 'I absolutely insist. After you…'

----------------

David and Harry walked into the huge marble hall at Gringotts, heeding the entry poem as they did so, though they had absolutely no intent of robbing the immense and highly guarded bank. They reached the long and curvy counter, David looking around with great interest at the decorated white pillars, and found an unoccupied goblin to serve them, his short and balding head appearing just a hand-spread above the surface, and black, beady eyes suspicious.

'May I help you?' came the deep and grunting voice, and two knobbly hands drummed the desk impatiently.

'Er, yes,' answered Harry, seeing that David had become temporarily speechless at the sight of the strange creature. 'Mr David Ranfurst here wishes to open a wizarding account that branches off of his muggle one, and I would like to make a withdrawal please.'

The goblin's thin and pointy ears bristled within their hairy covering, and he grunted in acknowledgment. 'And does Mr David Ranfurst have an existing account with us?'

David stepped forwards, finding his confidence finally. 'No, I am new to the wizarding world. I wish to open an account here, in accordance with my muggle one, transferring a million pounds please.'

Harry tried not to stare at this comment. He knew that David, as an actor, must be rich, but he had not imagined truly the amount that he must have collected by now. A million, he imagined, must be not even half of what his twin's account holds.

The goblin reached below the desk and produced a parchment form and a quill. 'Fill this in then, if you will,' he said, pushing it over to David. He turned to Harry, ignoring David's scribbling. 'And you sir, you wish to make a withdrawal… What is your name?'

'Mr Harry Potter,' answered Harry, noting the way the goblin's eyes flickered upwards to his scar at the mention of his well-known name. 'Here's my key…' and he pulled a small gold key out of his wallet and placed it onto the table.

The goblin picked it up and held it to the light, frowning in concentration. 'Very well,' he said, handing it back to Harry. 'I will have a cart take you both down in a minute.'

David handed the form back, and the goblin examined it closely, grunting now and again. Then he disappeared below the desk and reappeared with a key and a slip of parchment. 'Your key and receipt parchment sir; nine hundred and ninety nine thousand nine hundred and eighty nine point nine galleons have been added to your account, and you may withdraw from this bank or any Gringotts in another country whenever you please upon presentation of said key, which is now security sensitive to your fingerprints. Marlkin!' He called this last name in a loud and commanding voice, and another goblin appeared through a small door in the desk, carrying a lamp and wearing a red dragon-skin waistcoat and black baggy trousers.

'Marlkin will take you down to your vaults. Good day to you, and thank you for using Gringotts.'

Marlkin actually smiled at them as he beckoned the twins to follow him. 'This way please,' he said in a jovial voice, leading the way through a dark archway and down a flight of marble steps where at the bottom lay a set of cart tracks leading deep underground, a flat and square looking metal cart waiting on spiral wheels to take them to the vaults.

'This looks fun!' commented David, as they stepped into the cart and sat down. 'I love the muggle roller coasters, especially the really fast ones, so this will be interesting.'

Harry grinned. 'Well I've only ever seen them on TV, but I can assure you that this is nothing special in comparison, although it is quite spectacular to see the different vaults and security. I swear I saw a dragon the first time I came down here with Hagrid.'

Marlkin stepped in beside them and secured the lamp to the front. 'Oh yes,' he said smugly, 'lots of dragons down in the deeps, very 'spectacular' as you put it. Curses too… Hold on!' He tapped the side of the cart and with an alarming jolt it speeded along the tunnel, past row upon row of security locked doors, swerving round corners and rattling across deep, dark chasms, moving deeper and deeper underground until they reached vaults 650-700, gradually slowing down and then stopping just outside 687.

Marlkin leapt out of the cart and placed the lamp on the floor in front of the huge door, its flickering glow casting a soft orange light onto the heavily engraved metal. 'Key please, Mr Potter,' he trilled, holding his stubby arm out towards Harry, who placed the key in his upheld palm.

With a series of grunts Marlkin placed the key in the lock and turned, the hefty door grinding open smoothly under the key's movement to reveal piles of gold reaching far back into the vault and up to its high, caved ceiling. David's eyes widened at the sight. He knew that Harry had been left money by his parents, but he never really guessed that he was rich! He watched as his twin took out a bag and filled it up, noting how hesitant Harry was about taking too much, and felt satisfied that they both treated money with care, despite their fortunes.

David's vault, having only just been opened, was much further down than Harry's, and the pressure began to make them feel slightly light headed as the cart careened downwards, air whooshing past their faces and blowing Marlkin's ears backwards. Despite his love for roller coasters and adventure, after withdrawing a bag only slightly heavier than Harry's, even David was glad to reach the glistening ground floor of Gringotts once more and step into the light and fresh air.

'That certainly was an experience!' he said with a grin, ruffling his dark hair into a messy state. 'But I agree with you, not nearly as good as the muggle roller coasters. So are we meeting Ron and Hermione now?'

Harry nodded, and stopped to squint along the still crowded alley. 'Should be! Then we need to get all the school stuff… we don't want to be late meeting Mrs Weasley. Plus, we need to leave some time for Fred and George's shop. That place is a real Aladdin's cave! You'll love it, Dave.'

'I bet it is!' David replied with enthusiasm, he had already decided that wizarding shops were great, even after sampling only the sweet shop!

They found Ron and Hermione just outside 'Wizarding Rock', a music store next door to Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions.

'Wizards have music bands?' asked David interestedly as they approached.

'Oh yeah,' replied Harry. 'There are quite a few actually. We had The Weird Sisters playing at the Yule Ball in fourth year, and Mrs Weasley has a preferred taste for Celestina Warbeck, an awful, squeaky voiced witch who sings love songs. Don't tell her I said that though!'

David chuckled. 'I wont, don't worry!'

'Don't tell my mother what?' came Ron's amused voice as he and Hermione appeared right beside them, both looking as relaxed as usual with each other, although Hermione's cheeks seemed to be glowing with silent happiness, and Ron's dimples more indented than they normally were.

'That I said that Celestina Warbeck was an awful singer…' replied Harry.

'Oh right,' answered Ron dismissively, 'we've already told her that plenty of times, she knows what we think of her taste in music!'

'Ronald!' Hermione reprimanded playfully.

'What?'

'Oh nothing… just, don't talk about your mother with such…' she stopped at his befuddled expression. 'Never mind! Shall we go into Madam Malkin's now?'

'Yeah, better get all the Hogwarts stuff now or we'll run out of time,' replied Harry. 'Come on…' and he led the way into the robe shop, where a sales assistant immediately popped up, asking what they needed. When it was established that David needed a complete uniform, he was ushered to a stool and measured almost straight away, the tape measure, as always, doing the measurements on its own and getting a little carried away.

----------------

Mrs Weasley made her way down a side street towards Fred and George's shop, clutching a couple of shopping bags in her right hand and trying to avoid knocking people as she moved through the many shoppers. She had just passed a smart dress robe shop, 'Fashionable Fittings For Any Occasion', when someone called out her name, causing her to stop in her tracks and turn towards the familiar voice.

'Molly!'

She smiled at the sight of Remus and Tonks standing together just a little way off, waving at her. 'Remus, Nymphadora!' she exclaimed, walking over to them and ignoring the scowl that briefly crossed Tonks' face at being called her full name. 'Lovely to see you. Are you here together?'

Remus flushed slightly and Tonks' hair changed rapidly from purple to pink. 'Erm, yes, we're having lunch later. Purely business…' added Remus, knowing that Molly's delighted beaming was her interpretation that they were on a date together.

A shadow seemed to pass over Tonks' face at Remus' words, her hair turning brown and slightly longer as she met Molly's disappointed gaze. She turned to look at Remus with piercing, now violet, eyes. 'I thought you asked me out for a 'friendly chat over dinner'. You said nothing about it being business…'

Remus shifted uncomfortably under her stare, he hated it when her eyes turned violet, it was the one eye colour that reminded him of Sarah Autumn…

'Ah, yes, that's the one. We're out for a friendly chat over dinner, but not a date Molly.'

Mrs Weasley sighed, red hair frizzing over her eyes. 'If you say so, Remus,' she said with a knowing smile. 'Don't mind him, Tonks dear, he's just embarrassed about being with a woman as young and beautiful as yourself. Right Remus?'

He was about to reply, blushing furiously, when a young voice interrupted.

'Hello Mrs Weasley!'

Molly looked around in confusion, then smiled as she located the body of the voice. 'Skyla dear, how are you?'

'Very well thanks!' answered Skyla, flicking back her long, dark hair and studying Remus and Tonks with shining silver eyes. 'I take it Ginny is around here somewhere then?'

'Oh yes, Hogwarts shopping you know. I have no idea where she is, but she'll be with Ron, Hermione and Harry somewhere.'

Remus coughed humorously. 'Actually Molly, I think I saw her with a certain young man named Dean Thomas. They were just outside 'Rainbow Smoothies' about a quarter of an hour ago.'

Molly frowned and raised an eyebrow. 'Dean Thomas? And what, may I ask, is she doing with him?'

Skyla rolled her eyebrows. 'Snogging and holding hands I should think. Didn't you know she was going out with him?'

Mrs Weasley's eyes widened, her lips pursed. 'No, I didn't. I think a word is in order for my Ginevra when we get home.'

Skyla looked slightly guilty. 'Ah… well I'd better get going! Nice seeing you Mrs Weasley!' She bit her lip, trying not to laugh at her friend's mum's reaction to the news she had accidentally let slip, and ran off down the street in the direction of 'Rainbow Smoothies', hoping to catch Ginny and Dean before they left.

'Friend of Ginny's?' asked Tonks, staring after Skyla's retreating back with slight puzzlement.

'Yes, ' explained Molly. 'You should know her, Remus, you taught them at Hogwarts.'

'Don't think I recall …' he replied, braking off with a smile. 'You cant expect me to remember every pupil I taught, Molly. I was barely there a year!'

'True, true…' she muttered distractedly. Then her eyes hardened. 'Dean Thomas… is he one of Ron's friends?'

'Yes, and a very respectable young lad. Don't get too angry with Ginny, she is a young woman now, and bound to attract boys.'

'Yes I know, Remus, but you should have seen her over this summer when Harry was staying with us. He's falling in love with her, you know, and she led him on, gave him encouragement, when all the time she was going out with someone else!'

Remus laughed. 'Molly, you are ever knowing when it comes to spotting people's feelings, but don't you think that saying Harry is falling in love with Ginny is a bit far fetched?'

'How can you say that when you can't even admit to your own feelings?' Mrs Weasley said icily, winking at Tonks. 'Now, I really must be going. I have to warn Fred and George about David before they all turn up… have a nice lunch!' And before either of them could answer, she was off, leaving Remus with a very smug (and orange spiky haired) Tonks.

----------------

'A wand?' asked Mr Olivander, his large white bushy eyebrows rising with surprise as he looked at David, who stood in front of the counter flanked by Ron, Harry and Hermione and a load of shopping bags. 'What happened to your first one? I don't recall serving you as an eleven year old… I always say that wands made by the other makers never last the same as one of mine!' He seemed offended at the thought that someone going to Hogwarts would have used another wand maker, and David was quick to reassure him.

'Oh no, Sir, I haven't had a wand before now. You see, I was missed off of the Hogwarts registry at birth and so raised as a muggle until this summer, when Professor Dumbledore discovered my magical powers.'

Mr Olivander relaxed slightly, but he looked at David with a slight suspicion, as if this were a strange occurrence. 'I see,' he murmured, eyeing him closely so that David felt rather uncomfortable under his searching gaze. 'A rare set of circumstances, but it does sometimes happen. Well in that case, I'll see what I can find for you…' and he disappeared into the dim and dusty shelves, picking boxes out with a seemingly random pattern, although Harry, Ron and Hermione knew that the slightly creepy wand maker had an eye for picking out the types of wand that will suit each individual wizard.

He returned carrying an armful of wand boxes, and placed them on the table, opening the first and taking out a slim, honey coloured wand.

'Bamboo and unicorn hair, 14 inches… Give it a wave.'

David took the wand, and after a glance at Harry, who smiled in encouragement, waved it about, feeling rather foolish. Nothing happened, and Mr Olivander snatched it back out of his hand, smirking slightly as if doubting that David was even a wizard like he claimed.

'No… try this. Holly and dragon heartstring, 12 and a quarter inches, nice transfiguration wand.'

Before David even waved the wand, he could tell this was not the wand for him either, it felt like his hand were repelling the wood. He waved it and the shelves behind him trembled under its negative power.

Mr Olivander seemed delighted this time, obviously realising that David did have potential. 'Difficult customer, eh! I like a challenge…' he said, reaching for the next choice.

This one, ('13 inches, elm wood, bowtruckle claw core') also proved to not be the one for David, he managed to vanish all of Olivander's hair, leaving him bald. After the shopkeeper had righted himself, frowning, and his audience had stopped laughing, he picked out another, and another, and another, until he really did get annoyed.

'Do any wands work for you Mr Ranfurst?' he asked in a weary tone.

'Yes, Harry's and Dumbledore's…' answered David firmly.

At these words Mr Olivander's eyes snapped onto his, taking in the hazel/emerald mix. 'What?' he asked, 'both those wands worked for you?'

David frowned. 'Yes!' Harry could almost here the unsaid words 'you silly old man'.

Olivander's face had paled. He looked at Harry, piercing eyes drumming into his mind the memory of his first visit here to buy his wand.

'I wonder,' he murmured, just as he had six years ago, and Harry felt a strange sense of dejavu as he watched the wand maker reach below the desk to take out a dust-free wand box, which he placed on the desk, taking out from it a newly made wand, which seemed to shine golden even in the dim light of the shop.

'A couple of weeks ago,' began Mr Olivander, 'A phoenix flew into my shop, and dropped a single feather into my lap. I recognised him to be Dumbledore's Fawks immediately, he is a Grander Phoenix you see, and has only ever given three feathers to be used as wand cores before: yours Mr Potter, Albus Dumbledore's, and…' his voice dropped to an eerie whisper, 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.'

All four of them felt a shiver down their spine at these words, and as Olivander's sliver eyes gleamed brightly, were half inclined to run out of the shop. Only their eagerness to learn more about this phoenix feather kept them standing where they were, looking at him questionably as he spoke on.

'I knew that Fawks intended me to use his feather in a wand, so I got to work making it late into the night. My fingers knew what to do… holly wood sanded perfectly smooth, thirteen and three quarter inches long (a really unusual length) and Fawks' feather magically fixed in the centre. When I had finished, and the wand was 'born' I placed it away safely, waiting for its rightful owner. Now I have no idea if you are its owner, Mr Ranfurst, as I see absolutely no link to either Fawks or the headmaster, or even Mr Potter here, but if their wands worked for you, then the Grander Phoenix wand may be what you are looking for. Here…' and he handed a bemused David the shiny new wand.

David clasped his hand around the smooth handle, and immediately felt a warmth flood through his veins, and a tingle in his fingertips. He smiled at the sensation, and waved the wand in the air with ease. 'Expecto Patronum!' The words burst from his lips, surprising even him, and from the tip of the wand streamed a silvery white stag, identical to that of Harry's patronus, and James' animagus form.

David, Harry, Ron and Hermione stared in absolute shock as the patronus bounded once around the dusty shop and into the doorway before dissolving into the air outside, a trail of sparkling particles in the summer's breeze.

'Bloody hell, David!' exclaimed Ron, voicing all their thoughts.

Olivander on the other hand, was speechless. He stood there gaping at David like a goldfish out of water, watching as the young wizard examined the wand wondrously. 'Well, I think we've found your wand,' he managed to croak finally. Then his voice deepened back to its usual spooky tone. 'I think we can expect great things from you Mr Ranfurst, great things,' he said, once again peering closely at him. 'After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things. Terrible, oh yes, but great. And Albus Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of our time. And Mr Potter here… well who doesn't know his story.'

He blinked at Harry, inclining his head slightly. 'Perhaps you will make it into a book someday, Mr Ranfurst. That'll be 15 galleons please.'

He took the wand back from David, who gave it up rather reluctantly, wrapping it carefully in its velvet box, and placing it into a bag.

'There you go, good day to you all,' he said, handing the bag to David. Then he ignored them as if they weren't there, taking out parchment and quill and beginning a letter with the words, 'Albus, I have sold the wand…'

x

The four emerged from the wand shop, burdened with all their shopping, and really unsettled from their encounter with Mr Olivander, yet amazed at David's abilities as a wizard with his true wand.

'That is highly advanced magic!' squeaked Hermione for what must have been the fourth time. 'And it really does prove that you are James' son, David.'

Harry looked at his twin and smiled. Seeing someone else producing his patronus form had been rather a shock to him; it was his only close link to his father, and rather special. However, it only made him feel closer than ever to David to know that his father also resided in his heart somewhere, despite having been raised by Clive Ranfurst, and that they shared the same spirit…

'There's Ginny and Luna,' exclaimed Hermione, bringing Harry out of his thoughts.

'Is Dean with them?' growled Ron in response.

'No…' replied Hermione. 'And even if he was, would it matter?'

They reached their two friends, who were with another girl from their year, and Hermione spoke up. 'Ginny, Luna!'

They turned around and smiled. 'Hey guys,' said Ginny. 'On your way to meet Mum at Fred and Georges?'

'Yeah,' smiled Harry, temporarily forgetting that he was upset about her going out with Dean. 'How are you, Luna?'

Luna, who had been regarding David out of interested eyes, turned to him. 'I'm quite well thank you,' she answered with a dreamy smile, immediately returning to staring at David, who shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. 'I'm David Ranfurst,' he said, trying to end her trance.

It worked. 'If you say so. Lovely to meet you, I'm Luna Lovegood,' she said brightly.

The girl standing next to Ginny laughed, and Ginny nudged her with a slight giggle, speaking up at the sight of the others' blank faces. 'This is Skyla Autumn by the way. She's in Ravenclaw with Luna.'

Skyla grinned and pushed back her thick curly hair, silver eyes sparkling. 'Hi,' she replied, listening as Ginny introduced the others to her, though she already roughly knew Harry, Ron and Hermione. It was David who intrigued her. She couldn't quite make out what he looked like, though it didn't seem to make any sense putting that into words.

David was looking back at Skyla with interest. She reminded him of someone whom he had seen quite recently, yet he couldn't quite place the name.

'We should get a move on,' said Ron, 'Mum'll be waiting,' and he led the way down the street, Hermione at his side, the others not far behind.

Luna skipped into place beside David, staring at him again out of wide, dreamy eyes. 'You're Harry Potter's twin,' she said casually, flicking back her knee length blonde hair.

David snapped his eyes onto hers. 'What?' he asked in shock, eyes switching to hazel in colour. 'Why do you say that?'

She smiled at his shock. 'You have the same aura as him,' she said sweetly. 'Don't worry, you can trust me, I wont tell anyone.' She touched him briefly on the arm and skipped ahead to join Hermione and Ron, humming a lullaby.

Skyla, who had been walking behind them, caught up with David.

'Don't mind Luna,' she said with a smile. 'She's a little… different. In a special kind of way if you get me.'

David looked at her, admiring the way her hair curled gracefully over her shoulders. 'I know,' he said. 'I like her, she's funny, yet sincere.'

Skyla looked at him with some respect. 'I'm glad you think that. Most people misunderstand her. I've spent all our school years so far telling people to leave her alone. She just believes different things to us, that's all. And not all of them are crazy…' Here she seemed thoughtful. 'Was she right about you? Are you really Harry's twin?'

David grinned. 'What do you think?' he asked her, eyes sparkling emerald.

Skyla stepped in front of him. 'I think that if I do this…' she said, lowering her head and glancing at him from under long dark eyelashes, 'then you look like Harry. And if I do this…' she faced him full on, bright eyes staring straight into his, hands on her hips, 'then you look like some one else altogether, yet I cant place your look.'

With a light laugh she pushed his arm teasingly and walked beside him again. David rapidly felt his face growing warm, and he grinned. 'So maybe I am Harry's twin,' he said, 'but that would be telling.'

She pouted her lips, eyes crinkling sweetly. 'Luna and Ginny will only tell me later,' she said, and David thought privately that this was probably true. He decided he could trust her. 'Luna was right,' he said quietly, 'I'm Harry's identical twin brother.'

Skyla gasped; his features were changing rapidly before her eyes, seeming to melt away until they rearranged themselves into a replica of Harry without the round glasses. 'Wow!' she breathed, silvery eyes shocked.

At her expression, a light suddenly switched on in David's head, as the memory of another person staring at him in that way with those silvery eyes and crinkling dimples came to mind.

'You're not by any chance related to Remus Lupin, are you?' he asked curiously.

Skyla's brief shock at knowing his true identity disappeared, replaced quickly with one of puzzlement. 'Remus Lupin? As in Professor Lupin who taught in my second year?'

David nodded. 'I think so…'

'No, not that I know of I-' She broke off, face paling as a sudden thought struck her. She had seen Professor Lupin this afternoon, talking to Molly. And David was right; he did have her eyes and smile. What if he were…

'Are you ok?' asked David in concern, placing an arm around her to steady her.

Skyla breathed in deeply and nodded, attempting a smile. 'Fine… thanks David.'

He smiled back. 'No problem.'

She didn't make to follow him though, and he looked back at her, frowning. 'Are you coming Skyla?'

She shook her head. 'I don't think I will after all, actually. Tell Ginny I've gone home, will you? I only live down the street.'

Her eyes pleaded with him to understand, and he nodded. 'Ok. Are you sure you're all right?'

'Fine,' she said, smiling genuinely to prove it. 'I expect I'll see you at Hogwarts. Nice meeting you David.'

He smiled back. 'And you. Bye!'

He made sure she was ok making her way through the crowds, before running to catch the others up, wondering why his comment about Remus had caused her strange reaction.

He found Ginny talking to Harry, just a little in front of Ron, Hermione and Luna, and didn't really like to disturb them, yet he knew he must explain about Skyla.

'Ginny,' he said, walking beside her on the opposite side to Harry. 'Skyla told me to let you know that she's gone home.'

Ginny frowned, turning to face him. 'That's not like her. Is she ok?'

'I don't know…' replied David. 'She said she was, but there was something bothering her I think. It was after I asked her if she is related to Remus. That seemed to shock her a little.'

Ginny's hand flew to her mouth. 'Oh my gosh!' she exclaimed. 'You're right! I never noticed it before, but now that you say it… David, did Skyla tell you about her family?'

He shook his head.

'Well, she lives alone with her mother, who is a single parent. Skyla doesn't know who her father is, and her mum refuses to tell her anything except to say that she doesn't know who he is. But Skyla's been searching for any clues to his identity since she was old enough to understand that she had a father out there somewhere, even if unknown.'

David's eyes widened. 'And you think that Remus-'

Ginny looked at him honestly. 'Now that you say it, I think there's a possibility that he may be. She has his silver eyes and kind expression, and during the full moon…' here Ginny paused, seeming to understand something. 'During the full moon her moods change! She seems sort of detached, almost dreamy, not listening in class but staring out of the window. Sometimes she's a little touchy… the rest of the time she's fine.'

Harry, who had been listening with great interest, for he too recognised the similarity between Remus and Skyla now that it had been pointed out, spoke up. 'But if Remus has a daughter, why isn't he with Skyla's mother? Or even taking care of Skyla? He's have told us if he's had a child…'

Ginny shook her head. 'Not if he didn't know. If Sarah denied all knowledge of him to Skyla, would she have told Remus?'

'Skyla wont do anything silly, will she?' asked David worryingly. 'I put the idea in her head…'

Ginny smiled. 'You don't know her very well yet David. Skyla is the most cunning, intelligent and nosy girl I have ever known. She can look after herself all right.'

They reached the bright and colourful window of 'Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes', and almost had to blink at the sight. The shop was filled to the brim with customers, but they could see Mrs Weasley talking to George behind the counter, and waded their way through the sea of people to join them just as Fred popped out from behind a door which led out the back.

'Ah good, you're here!' exclaimed Mrs Weasley, spotting them amongst the crowd. Fred and George looked up simultaneously at her words, their faces cracking into identical, pleased grins as they saw Harry and David together.

'Aha!' cried Fred. 'Now isn't this a surprise! Lovely to see you Harry, and your mirror image here must be David!'

Harry grinned. 'Yep, this is David!'

George and Fred exchanged delighted glances as David matched Harry's grin perfectly. 'Do you like jokes and pranks?' asked George eagerly.

And as he assured them that he did very much, Mrs Weasley groaned. 'The twins meet the twins,' she muttered to herself, 'whatever next!'

----------------

The director of the Harry Potter films sat at his office desk, eyes glued to the last few pages of 'Harry Potter and the Grander Phoenix Wands' his cup of coffee sitting forgotten on the table beside him, long gone cold. The book had been released at midnight earlier today, and he had been reading it feverishly ever since, not even turning on the news or answering the phone in case he heard anything that spoiled the plot. The only time he had stopped reading was to scream and thump the table in disbelief two chapters in, after reading that Harry had discovered a twin brother living in the muggle world, who turned out to be a wizard and accompanied Harry, Ron and Hermione to Hogwarts. How the hell was he going to develop this to a film if he had to cast a twin? He had hoped that it wouldn't matter, wouldn't affect the plot much, but now that he was only two pages away from the end of the story, he realised that Damian (Rainford) Potter was just as vital a character as Harry! He could strangle JK for that! The book of course, was her most brilliant yet, but why oh why did she have to introduce a twin?

With tears pooling in his eyes, and a mad smile on his face he read the last few lines. Then with a sigh that could have been contentment, or annoyance, he shut the book and listened to his answer phone messages. Sure enough, they were from various members of his team, including the casting director, scriptwriter, and David's manager, all raving about the book and in a complete uproar about what to do about the twin.

Picking up the phone frantically, and wondering himself how they will pull off this film after hearing his team's comments, he dialled David's mobile, hoping that he had read the book and could shed a little light on the situation.

The dial tone rang five times, and the director began to sweat with the suspense. _Please pick up, please pick up!_ He willed silently. And before the 6th dial had ended, David answered.

----------------

David's mobile rang in his pocket, and Ron looked at him in alarm. 'Why are you bleeping, mate?' he asked in a panicked voice.

'Oh honestly Ronald,' answered Hermione. '_He_ isn't bleeping, that's his mobile phone!'

Harry chuckled. 'Aren't you going to answer it, Dave?'

His twin nodded, trying not to laugh. 'Yeah, if Ron will stop looking at me like that!'

Ron immediately jumped as the fourth ring sounded. 'That is scary!' he muttered, still looking at David as if he were a blast-ended skrewt.

David glared at him as the fifth ring sounded, and looking down at the screen, saw that it was the film director calling. He turned away from Ron, and answered the phone mid ring. 'Hello?'

The director's voice sounded relieved. 'David! Thank god you picked up!'

David frowned. 'Why, what's the matter?'

'Haven't you read the 6th book yet?' the director asked exasperatedly.

'No, I've been out all day. What's the problem, Steve?'

'We have a major casting problem,' explained the frantic director. 'JK's gone and given Harry an identical twin brother in her new book!'

At these words, David's jaw dropped open. _He was in the Harry Potter books_?

'David?' asked the voice on the other end. 'David, are you there?'

He recovered from his shock and answered, ruffling up his hair. 'Yeah…'

'Well because of that we will need to cast the part of the twin! And there's no way we can find someone who looks close enough to you to be your twin. Not in the limited time we have! I'm going to have to have an open casting call, which I really do not want to do…'

David's mind was reeling with the news about the latest book. 'Hang on,' he said calmly, 'don't panic, Steve, I think I have the perfect solution. If he agrees, then you wont need to even do a private casting call for the character of the twin.'

'Really?' asked the director, not able to believe his ears.

'Yeah,' agreed David, 'One sec…' He turned towards Harry, who was watching him curiously, and covered his phone speaker with his hand.

'Harry,' he began slyly, 'how would you like to act me in the Harry Potter films?'


	13. Chapter 13

**_Disclaimer: _In this chapter, the author of the harry potter books is mentioned. However, she is the author of the harry potter books published in my alternative muggle universe, and so a completely different person to the real harry potter author. I know full well that Rowling is the author of the wonderful Harry Potter series, and no resemblance is meant in this story to my character, Jessie. Unlike her, Rowling created the magical universe completely from her own imagination, Jessie had it put on a plate in front of her. Thank you for understanding, hope you enjoy the chapter!**

Chapter 13

Professor Dumbledore stood outside the muggle bookshop, Waterstones, his cowboy hat, red skiing jacket, and baggy, charity shop jeans blending in surprisingly well with the crowd, despite his long silver beard that was tucked neatly into the black belt of his trousers. He was staring with extreme displeasure at the window display, which was adorned with sparkling starry decorations, black wizard hats (fake of course) cardboard wands, and large blown up drawings of Harry's head. On the stands were brightly coloured hard-backed books, bearing the title 'Harry Potter and the Grander Phoenix Wands' with a well drawn picture of the trio on the front; they were emerging from what looked like a fiery golden phoenix, and brandishing their wands triumphantly. Along the top of the window ran a huge banner, announcing 'Sixth Potter instalment now in stock!' and a trampled damp newspaper on the pavement below Dumbledore's feet bore the headlines, 'Harry's final adventure? Rennal's sixth and possibly final book hits stores all over the country'.

Letting out an enormously long and frustrated sigh, Dumbledore stepped away from the window. He moved past the crowd of avid fans who were standing on the street discussing the book in loud and enthusiastic tones, and as the words 'twin... Harry Potter's identical twin brother... awesome!' met his ears, his icy blue eyes glinted with worry, and he pursed his lips determinedly, turning on the spot quickly, and vanishing from sight.

--------------

Jessie Katrina Rennal was sipping coffee in her living room and flicking through a huge pile of letters from fans, a copy of her new book sitting open on the table in front of her, when there came a loud and urgent knock on the front door.

With a frown she placed her mug on the table and pushed the pile of letters onto the edge of the chair, where they immediately fluttered to the floor. Sparing them only a brief glance, she tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and hurried to answer the door, where the visitor was still knocking impatiently.

'Coming, coming,' she muttered under her breath, and opened the heavy front door to find a cowboy attired Dumbledore standing angrily on her doorstep.

'Dumbledore! What a nice surprise,' she greeted with a winning smile, 'Have you seen my new book? Please, do come in.'

Dumbledore did not return her smile, but stepped onto the thick, cream rug in the hallway. He frowned at her seriously. 'I have indeed seen it, and that is precisely why I am here, Jessie.'

The famous author's smile disappeared immediately. 'Oh,' she said quietly. 'I see... well come and sit down, I suppose this will take a while.'

Dumbledore nodded and followed her into the sitting room, his eyes immediately drawn to the open book lying on the table. With a spasm of almost longing he turned his back on it, drawing away like sticky toffee or melted cheese.

'Now, I shall get straight to the point,' he said, facing the author sternly. 'Your new book.'

Jessie smiled. 'Oh yes, do you want to see it? I hope its satisfactory, like the others, I-'

'RENNAL' bellowed Dumbledore, interrupting her cheery chatter, and she jumped in surprise, cowering away from the angry wizard. 'Do _not _under any circumstances let me see the book. I must. Not. Know. What. Happens.'

Rennal immediately picked up the book and closed it with a loud thud, placing it under the cushion on her chair.

Dumbledore relaxed at this action, feeling a lot easier without the book's visual presence, and took a deep and calming breath before continuing. 'You have broken the terms of our contract by releasing this book way too early, by revealing what will happen in the future before it has actually happened. Do you have any idea what damage you could cause from doing this?'

The author shook her head, worry in her eyes. 'I'm sorry,' she muttered, 'I was only doing what I thought best. You see, the publishers and public were getting more and more demanding… and seeing as I had the means to produce a hundred books in one day if I wanted, I thought it wouldn't matter if I brought out the books a little earlier.'

Dumbledore was not affected by her humble manner, and certainly did not buy her feeble excuse. 'Time is an extremely precious and complex dimension, Miss Rennal,' he explained seriously. 'Altering any of its stages, whether past, present or future can result in complete disaster, and the deletion or rather death, of a persons life at any time. I am sure that I told you this back in our first meeting five years ago; nobody should know their future before it has happened, and if others know, it is equally dangerous. I do not know what the consequences will be of your releasing the book about Harry's (and so I have heard rumoured, David's also) sixth year before that year has actually happened. Even now at this very minute events may be taking place in a different way to how your book describes, due to your want for fame. However, there is nothing we can do about it now, except make sure that nobody mentioned in this book even sees so much as its cover. The pull towards the forbidden is a very strong power.'

J.K. Rennal's face was now a pale grey colour, her cheeks tinged pink. 'I understand,' she said quietly, 'and I can see that it could be a very serious thing to do, meddling with time, but surely nothing will happen from my harmless writings. You did, after all, make sure that no person in contact with magic could access the books or muggle merchandise and media that came out of it.'

Dumbledore's expression did not change. 'I did make sure of that,' he said gravely, 'but that does not mean that it is foolproof, nor that the contents will not reach Harry's ears. You forget, in your blindness from all the excitement, that Harry's twin David is a muggle, and not just any muggle, but the actor of Harry in one of your films.'

Rennal's eyes widened with realisation.

'Yes, so you see your 'harmless writings' as you put it, will indeed have had a result, possibly far greater than you could imagine. I cannot possibly allow you to continue with your job, not after you broke our agreement, whether the task is complete or not. My only choice is to take away the means for your concealment and living in the magical world. The cloak please, and the time turner then, Miss Rennal.' He held out his hand expectantly, but the muggle fiction writer just stared at it blankly.

'Y-you're going to stop me writing about Harry?' she asked, somewhat trembling.

Dumbledore smiled kindly at her. 'For now, yes,' he said firmly. 'You will not be needing the cloak and time turner for a while, if ever again. You are lucky that it isn't your memory that I'm asking for. As I told you many years ago, muggles in your situation would have been obliviated immediately and certainly not left to explore the magic world at will. If you misplace my trust ever again, I will be forced to take action.'

His expression softened slightly at J.K.'s shocked face. 'Jessie,' he said calmly, 'you have done a marvellous job in telling Harry's story to the world, and look at how famous you have become? You don't need the magic world to continue with your career, learn to let it go, be proud of being a muggle. Oh, and you are welcome to visit any time you like of course. Now, I am in rather a hurry, I have a meeting with Fudge to get to, and I think I should probably change before I go to the ministry… The cloak and time turner, if you please.'

Once again he held out his hand to the author, and this time, looking like a naughty school child that had just had some toy confiscated, she slowly and reluctantly delved inside her pocket and extracted a silvery, flowing material. Then she reached for a gold chain that hung around her neck and pulled out a glittering golden time turner. Without so much as a word she gave both these precious objects to the Hogwarts Headmaster, who immediately pocketed them safely in the lining of his skiing jacket.

'Thank you,' said Dumbledore, ignoring the look of regret and loss in her eyes. 'Good bye Miss Rennal, I am sure we shall meet again one day.' And without so much as a word of warning, he turned on the spot, and with a loud crack, vanished from the comfortable living room.

J.K. Rennal stared blankly at the spot from which the wizard had just vanished, too shocked for a moment to realise what had just happened. Then she slapped a hand to her head and sat down hard on the sofa, wincing as she did so, and pulling out the copy of her book from underneath the cushion. 'Stupid, stupid Jessie,' she said out loud, and flung the book across the room, where it landed upside-down beside the hearth, which luckily wasn't lit this afternoon.

With a sigh she lay back on the sofa, touching absent-mindedly the spot on her neck where the time turner had always hung. Closing her eyes she began to remember back to that one eventful day when her life had changed forever…

It was the first of September, and Kings Cross Station was a great mass of bustling people hurrying to catch their trains, the noise of whistling guards, chattering voices, and sing-song announcements filling the tense atmosphere. The 10:45 train from Birmingham pulled into platform nine, and Jessie gathered up her handbag, notebook and pen and made her way down the isle between the blue-patterned seats to the nearest door, stepping neatly off onto the dusty platform. Looking around with eager, interested eyes, she found a flashing board and noted that her next train wasn't due for another three quarters of an hour. Deciding to go and find a drink to pass the time, she headed towards a small café at the end of the platform, and once inside, queued shortly at the coffee machine.

Two minutes later she stepped outside with the steaming polystyrene cup, and found a clear space opposite the barrier between platforms nine and ten, where she leant against a wall sipping at her hot drink and observing the crowded platform.

Suddenly there came a disturbance from amongst the hustle and bustle, and her sharp, imaginative eye was caught by the sight of a cluster of bright red headed people making their way towards her. Standing up straight with extreme interest, she peered closer at the group, counting their number to be six; a rather plump, motherly looking woman holding on tight to the hand of a small, freckled girl; a young man looking extremely well groomed; two identical looking twin teenagers, and a rather gangly looking boy just a bit younger than them, who had a smudge of dirt on his nose. What was so extraordinary about this red headed family was not, however, the colour of their hair, but rather their belongings. Each of the children were wheeling a trolley containing a large, shabby trunk, and on top of the eldest boy's trolley perched a cage containing a handsome screech owl, and on top of the youngest boy's trolley sat a meshed cage containing a sleeping, fat rat.

'What's the platform number again?' asked the mother wearily, as they paused in front of Jessie, who was now frantically scribbling in her notebook.

'Nine and three quarters,' piped up the little girl, jumping up and down on the spot excitedly as one of her brothers asked, 'Shouldn't you know that, Mum?'

As the mother replied, Jessie strained her ears even more. _Platform nine and three quarters…_ Did she just hear that right? She looked up just in time to see the eldest son walk forward… and disappear completely out of sight!

_What the- _Jessie blinked, looking around frantically to see if she could see him anywhere, but it was as if he had never existed.

'You next, Fred,' came the mother's voice, and Jessie moved forward a little to see the family clearer, determined this time to find out what was happening; this could be the perfect core to a successful story!

One of the twins stepped forward, wheeling his trolley. 'I'm not Fred I'm George! Honestly woman, you call yourself our mother!'

The woman sighed and smiled apologetically. 'Sorry George dear,' she said, as he passed her, and the twins smirked. 'Only joking, I am Fred!' came the cheeky reply, and Jessie watched with widening eyes as the twins ran forwards with their luggage, straight towards the brick barrier… and disappeared just like their brother.

'Right. Now lets get a move on, this place is packed with muggles…' began the woman briskly, clearly annoyed at the joke her sons had played on her, but she was interrupted by the sound of a small and lost voice asking, 'Excuse me?'

Both Jessie and the remaining red heads looked around to see a black-haired, skinny, bespectacled boy standing just behind them, pushing in front of him a trolley containing a heavy trunk and another owl's cage, this time with a beautiful snowy owl perched inside it.

'Excuse me, do you know how to…' the boy began again, rather timidly.

'How to get onto the platform?' asked the woman kindly, smiling with encouragement.

'Yes,' said the boy, relieved.

'Don't worry dear, its quite simple; you just walk straight into the barrier between platforms nine and ten. It's Ron's first time to Hogwarts, too!' The gangly boy with dirt on his nose grinned. 'You go now, before him. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous.'

_Muggles? Hogwarts? _Jessie was completely baffled by what was going on, yet at least she knew now where the kids were disappearing to; they were supposedly going through the seemingly solid platform barrier! Yet that wasn't possible! Feeling slightly alarmed now, she watched as the boy with black hair pushed his trolley forwards, gathering speed, and heading straight for the barrier, his face set in a nervous expression. He was surely going to crash, any second now…

But to Jessie's utter and complete astonishment, he did not crash. In fact, he never seemed to make contact with the brick at all, but instead ran straight through the wall as if it were thin air, disappearing out of sight.

Before she had time to think on this, or even look away, she was watching as the rest of the red heads followed behind, one after the other, the young girl still clutching her mother's hand and skipping along beside her.

Leaning against the wall for support, and pinching herself in case she be dreaming, Jessie wrote this phenomenon down in her note book, then made her way cautiously over to the barrier, glancing around her to make sure nobody was watching. Then she pressed casually against the brick, bracing herself for what might happen.

Nothing.

All she could feel beneath her body was the rough solidness of stone. With a disappointed sigh, and feeling slightly silly about her suspicions in the first place, Jessie stepped away again. _Must have just been a trick of the light…_ But she had barely turned her back when she saw three more people heading her way, one of them a young girl with bushy brown hair, and they, too, had a large trunk strapped to a trolley.

Jessie blended carefully into the crowd, keeping a watchful eye. The three with the trunk as luggage stopped right in front of the barrier. 'This should be it!' exclaimed the bushy haired girl. 'Platform nine and three quarters!'

Her parents exchanged looks. 'But dear, how do we get there? Is there magic involved?'

Jessie immediately became alert._ Magic? But there's no such thing, surely!_

The girl sighed. 'Of course there's magic involved… this is a magic school I'm going too, after all. But it shouldn't be complicated. I read in a book about magical transportation that you just walk straight at the barrier, and if you are a witch or a wizard, will be able to get through.'

Jessie held her breath and listened closely, eager for more information.

'But what about us, dear? We're not magic, how will we get through to see you off?' The father looked worried, and his daughter frowned. 'I don't know… follow closely behind me, maybe my magical power will activate the way through long enough for you to get through too!'

'Well it's worth a try…' shrugged her mother, sounding doubtful.

'Of course it is,' said the girl indignantly. 'Come on, we've only six minutes till the train leaves!' And she grabbed her mother by the hand and walked confidently up to the barrier, her father following close behind with the trolley. With one effortless push she was through, and her parents with her.

Jessie rushed after them, but the barrier had already resealed itself. 'Damn,' she muttered angrily, alarming a passer by. As the electric board above her flashed three minutes to eleven, she was about to move away, having had enough strangeness for one day, when there came the sound of running feet, and another family appeared, pushing two trolleys and a frog spawn filled tank in front of them. 'Come on, Mum, hurry! We only have two minutes to catch the train!' called one of the children, and Jessie moved in quickly behind them, careful not to be noticed, following the father barely a centimetre behind as they walked briskly towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten. _Please let this work! I want to know where they are all going!_

The brick wall loomed up in front of her, and all she could see was the blue material of the jacket of the man in front of her. If this didn't work, she would have one hell of a bruised face… She screwed up her eyes and kept walking forwards, waiting for the blow.

It didn't come.

She opened her eyes again to the brightness of a sunny platform, a magnificent scarlet steam engine hissing and steaming gently on the tracks in front of her, the words 'Hogwarts Express' painted on its side. All around were many excited, chattering and laughing children from the ages of eleven to around eighteen, some wearing smart, black, robe like cloaks and pointed hats, others just in normal clothes. A whistle sounded from somewhere amongst the billowing steam, and there began a mad rush for carriages as trunks began to be hauled up into the train's long and winding body.

Coming to her senses with complete and utter amazement, Jessie didn't think twice before running along the train to one of the doorways at the end, where she slipped onto the train unnoticed. Only when it began to move, chugging smoothly along the rails did she think that maybe it had been a bad idea, getting onto a strange train that was going to goodness knows where, especially when the platform it had left from was invisible and accessed by a transparent barrier. She had utterly no idea where she was going to end up, or how she would get back, and was beginning to attract some stares from students (for students of some kind they must certainly be) including the red haired boy from Kings Cross, who was now dressed in the smart black uniform, a silver badge baring the letter 'P' pinned to his chest.

Deciding that maybe it would be best to act as if she knew what she was doing, Jessie followed the majority of the student's behaviour and entered a compartment right at the back of the train, beside the luggage compartment. Luckily there was nobody already inside except for a dark green toad, who immediately leapt beneath her feet and out of the door as soon as she slid it open.

With a laugh she sat down comfortably in a window seat and watched the scenery going by, and was only interrupted a couple of times by some young students peering in at her as if they were looking for somewhere to sit. However, no sooner had she turned to look at them they disappeared again, the word 'teacher' reaching her ears.

Soon, however, Jessie began to feel bored. The train was hot and stuffy and she did not dare sleep less she miss anything important that may help her work out where they were going. Also she was beginning to feel extremely thirsty and hungry, the coffee at the station seemed like days ago.

Finally there came a welcome interruption; the sound of a clanking trolley moving out in the corridor, and a cheery voice asking, 'Anything off of the trolley dears?'

Jessie sat up straight and looked eagerly towards the doorway, which slid open not long after to reveal a short and smiling woman with a trolley full of food and drink.

'Anything off the trolley, dear?' asked the woman sweetly.

Jessie got to her feet. 'Yes please,' she answered gratefully, moving over to take a look, ready to buy a cup of tea and a sandwich. When she looked closely however, there did not seem to be any tea whatsoever, and no sandwiches. Instead there were cartons of drink labelled as 'pumpkin juice', pasties that also claimed to be pumpkin, cakes in the shapes of cauldrons, and many strange and exotic sweets that she had never heard of in her life.

She looked up in confusion at the trolley woman, who smiled expectantly. 'What'll it be today, dearie?'

Jessie gulped. 'Err… any chance of a cup of tea?'

The woman threw her head back and laughed. 'Sorry, no tea! Only pumpkin juice, you see, its mostly students to cater for, and none of them ever ask for tea. Of course, if you were to go to the staff compartment that'd be a different matter. Why aren't you there, anyway?'

Jessie racked her brains for a good excuse. 'Reverse travel sickness,' she said quickly. 'If I sit at the front I go ill.'

To her surprise the woman nodded sympathetically. 'Ah the reverse travel sickness… my sister suffers from that. Have you tried the Glistening Potion? Works wonders that does.'

'Cant say that I have,' replied Jessie.

'You should then! St. Mungo's will supply it to you if you ask. Now, what do you want from the trolley? I need to get back down to the driver...'

'Um, I'll have a carton of pumpkin juice, a pasty, one of those cauldron cakes, and a packet of every flavour beans please.'

'Righto, that will be seven sickles and two knuts.'

_That will be what? _Jessie blinked and tried again. 'How much, sorry?'

'Seven sickles and two knuts,' repeated the woman firmly.

'Well I have, um, a five pound note…' said Jessie feebly, reaching into her handbag.

The woman looked at her strangely. 'Muggle money? Nobody ever pays me in muggle money on the Hogwarts Express. Who are you, anyway? There aren't many teachers who travel on the train to the school.'

Jessie's heart sank. 'I-'

'Doris!' came a cheeky voice from outside the compartment. 'Doris my lovely, any chance of a liquorish wand?'

'Or a pumpkin pasty?'

The trolley woman's cheeks tinged pink. 'I'll be back,' she said, eyes still suspicious as she left the compartment, pushing her trolley in front of her. Jessie had a glimpse of two vividly red heads of hair surrounding her before the door banged shut.

Sinking gratefully into a seat once more, Jessie mopped her sweaty brow and tucked her blonde hair into the neck of her t-shirt. _What am I doing here?_

Later that afternoon, the scenery outside the window grew wilder, and the sky above darker and billowing with clouds. The train ran through majestic mountains and into a valley, through a forest with deep and sinister trees on either side. Then finally, orange lights started flickering in the distance and a voice echoed all down the train; 'We will be approaching Hogsmeade station in ten minutes time.'

Jessie awoke from her miserable trance and stood by the compartment's door eagerly, watching the students dashing in and out of the corridor all down the body of the train, now all wearing the same uniform of black robes. The rhythm of the train slowed to a steady chug, and then stopped altogether, steam billowing past the windows. They had arrived at a small and quaint platform, the apparent destination, and Jessie slipped off of the train behind the crowd of black-hatted students, unnoticed. Or so she thought.

_What is this place? _She watched the students around her all flock to the exit of the station, where she could see a track leading off towards the village. A loud voice sounded over the chatting voices, 'Firs' years! Firs' years over 'ere.' And she looked around in bewilderment to see a giant of a man standing to one side of the platform carrying a lantern, and was jostled to one side by a group of scared looking first years who were not looking where they were going as they headed towards the bearded giant.

A hand gripped Jessie's shoulder and she yelped in shock, spinning around to see a stern looking woman, tall and willowy, her greying hair tied up in a tight bun underneath a violet coloured hat, and a billowing green cloak wrapped around her shoulders.

'Come with me,' the woman said sharply. 'I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Head Mistress of Hogwarts School. But of course you will not know what Hogwarts is… How a muggle like you got this far into our world I do not know! You should have your memory wiped, but the headmaster has insisted that I bring you to him directly.' She sighed, and then smiled slightly at Jessie's pale face and scared eyes. 'I will not harm you, what is your name?'

'Jessie Katrina Rennal,' replied Jessie indignantly, meeting her eyes. 'And I do know what Hogwarts is, it's a magic school. But what is a muggle? And a sickle? And a Knut?'

McGonagall's mouth twitched. 'Dumbledore will explain all, Miss Rennal. Now hop on.' And she pulled out a shiny broomstick from behind her back, which immediately hovered lengthways in mid air. 'Come on!' she barked, as Jessie stood there, staring blankly at it. 'Oh for goodness sake!' and she swung a leg over the handle of the broom until she was sitting right on it. 'Sit behind me,' she said, offering a hand to Jessie, who, not believing her eyes, took it and swung her own leg over the broom.

'Hold on!' cried McGonagall, and Jessie barely had time to grip the elderly teacher around the waist before the broom zoomed up high into the air, flying across the village behind the station, and alongside a huge lake, glimmering in the pale light from the evening sky. And on the hillside above the lake…

Jessie gasped, the wind blowing her hair everywhere.

'That is Hogwarts Castle, Miss Rennal,' called McGonagall.

_Hogwarts Castle? That crumbled old ruin!_

'But it's just a ruin!' said Jessie in disappointment. _What kind of a situation had she got herself into?_

'Just you wait and see, Miss Rennal, all will become clear to you when we pass over its protection boarders.'

There was a ripple in the air, and the broom passed through what felt like a smooth and cool substance, then a warm wall of dry water. Jessie could hear McGonagall muttering something under her breath, and the broom vibrated loudly.

'Nearly- there…' spluttered McGonagall, concentrating hard on something. There came a loud, bell like sound ringing in their ears, and then the broom shot forwards, the scene below changing rapidly in Jessie's eyes. The pile of old stones and nettle stems disappeared, instead many grand walls rose up out of the ground, and a huge and magnificent castle appeared in the ruin's stead, its high towers welcoming, and many windows shining.

'Welcome to Hogwarts,' said McGonagall dryly as Jessie gasped once more, this time in awe. 'You are the first muggle ever to see it in its full glory. I hope you know what an honour that is. Now, hold on, I'm taking you down now, the headmaster is waiting.'

The broom flew gracefully towards the sweeping drive below, and McGonagall landed softly at the bottom of some stone steps leading up to a huge, oak front door.

Jessie had barely slid off of the broom when these doors opened wide to reveal a wizard (for Jessie was beginning to call these people witches and wizards in her head, as that was the only seemingly fit description for their attire). He had a long, silvery beard coming out from a pointed wizard hat, and was wearing a midnight blue cloak scattered with gold stars. But it wasn't his appearance that caught Jessie's attention, more the kind and wise expression in the wizard's twinkling blue eyes. 'Welcome, friend, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,' he said solemnly, opening his arms wide. 'I am Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster. Come with me.'

Jessie glanced at McGonagall, who nodded encouragingly, then followed the headmaster through the front doors and into a huge marble entrance hall. There were many staircases climbing high above, and Dumbledore led the way up one of them, his cloak fluttering on the steps in front of Jessie.

She stared around her at the hallways and landings they passed through, eyes wide and curious. In her pocket her fingers grasped her pen, itching to write about the portraits covering the wall, for they were moving!

The man named Dumbledore was silent all the way until they reached the statue of two gargoyles. Here he stopped and spoke the words, 'chocolate frogs'.

Jessie blinked. _Did the gargoyles just salute?_

They were most certainly moving, revolving around in a circle to reveal a hidden staircase, which Dumbledore stepped up onto lightly, beckoning her to follow.

At the top of the hidden stairs was his office, high up in one of the side towers, and he sat down in a high backed chair behind a desk, gesturing for Jessie to sit down opposite him. He then proceeded to take out a well polished stick, which he waved in the air, causing two mugs of hot chocolate and a plate full of sandwiches to appear on the table. 'Help yourself,' he said warmly, noting Jessie's longing look, and taking a sandwich for himself.

'Now,' began Dumbledore, looking down at Jessie through his half moon spectacles as she sipped at her hot chocolate gratefully. 'Tell me, right from the beginning, how you managed to get onto the Hogwarts Express.'

And so she did, relating everything from getting her coffee and seeing the red headed family ('Ah yes, the Weasleys,' said Dumbledore) to finding her way through onto the platform and boarding the train.

When she had finished, the headmaster regarded her thoughtfully. 'So you are a writer, Miss Rennal?'

'Yes,' she answered. 'That is to say that I took a degree in creative writing at University, and now I hope to be a famous author.'

'So you have not yet published?'

'No. I am still looking for ideas.' She clutched at her black notebook as she said this, and Dumbledore, noting this movement, asked to see it.

'Hummm…' he murmured, flicking through the pages. 'So you thought all this was a good basis to a successful story? The red headed family, the bespectacled, parent-less boy, the vanishing through the platform, the train, the school, and the magic…'

Jessie nodded. 'Naturally, Sir.'

'But did you really believe it; think it real that there is a school for magic, and witches and wizards living secretly all over the country? Or was that just guesswork?'

'I had to believe it. The evidence was before my own eyes.'

Dumbledore smiled. 'Of course, of course… but you weren't intending on producing a book that claimed that it really was true, were you? Because I'm afraid that it just wouldn't work. Firstly, nobody would believe you, they would think you mad; and secondly, our wizarding law just would not allow it. You see, Miss Rennal, you are unfortunately what we call a Muggle - someone of non-magical blood, and our ministry has worked for centuries to make sure that the secret of our world does not get out, and remains just that… a secret. Any muggle coming close to discovering our existence is immediately obliviated, which means they have their memory erased by a spell.' He looked seriously at Jessie, who had paled at these words.

'That is, however, something that we would normally do to meddling, bumbling muggles, and also something that only Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, would do, as it is his job to protect the magical world from discovery. You on the other hand, are a special case. Never before has a muggle succeeded in actually getting onto platform nine and three quarters, unless their child is a witch or wizard, let alone making it all the way to Hogsmeade. You are extremely bright and intelligent, Miss Rennal, and I am not Cornelius Fudge. However, I most certainly cannot just let you go back home knowing everything about us.'

_Then what will you do with me? _Jessie was feeling extremely puzzled, and slightly worried by all this talk of obliviation of the memory, and not letting her go back home.

Dumbledore noted her displeasure and speechless state. 'I would like to make a proposal to you, Miss Rennal, and your choice will be whether you go home with your memory obliviated, pretending none of this ever happened, or whether you except my proposition. Is that agreeable to you?'

Jessie didn't look very happy. 'I guess so…' she said hesitantly. 'Tell me of this idea of yours.'

Dumbledore smiled in satisfaction. 'Excellent. Well, this is what I have to say. You know the young boy with black hair that you saw talking to the Weasleys at Kings Cross station? Well he is no ordinary boy. He is the Boy-Who-Lived, and his story is famous within the wizarding community all over the globe. If you accept my agreement, I will tell you all about him. However, his story I fear is only just beginning, and will be one that must be told to the world at large, not just within our magical boundaries. And you, my dear, are a writer. You have the means to publish in the muggle world, something that Cornelius would never allow should he get to know about it (which, by the way, he won't). My proposition is this: Follow Harry and his friends through their life at Hogwarts, and write his story for me. You will publish the books, one per year, as children fiction stories. In return I shall not remove your memory, and will allow you to continue exploration of the magical world. Do we have an agreement?'

_Publish this fantastic story as novels? Be given free access to exploring this new, magical world? I would be crazy not to accept! _'We most certainly do!' answered Jessie, beaming with happiness.

Dumbledore chuckled. 'I am glad you agree. In order to complete this task fully, you will be needing these…' he opened a drawer in the desk and took out a small box not unlike a jewellery container, and a flowing, silvery piece of material.

'This is an invisibility cloak,' announced Dumbledore, handing her the fabric, which felt like soft warm water beneath her fingers. 'And this…' He opened the small box, pulling out a fine, golden chain, upon which was hanging a small and delicate looking golden hourglass '… is a time turner.'

Jessie gasped. 'A time turner?' she asked, 'For me?'

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. 'Yes, you will be needing it to go back in time to know what happened in Harry's childhood, and also occasionally for finding out what happened to Harry at times in which you may have missed the action. But remember…'

He stared at Jessie intently, blue eyes serious. 'Remember… time is an extremely complex dimension, and should not be meddled lightly with. Nobody should know their future before it has happened and if others know, it is equally dangerous. I trust that you will remember this advice and not use this time turner for your own personal needs. Do you understand?'

Jessie nodded solemnly, this time turner business sounded dangerous, if also fun, and she had no intention of mucking anything up with it. 'I understand,' she said, taking the beautiful glistening pendant from the headmaster. 'And the cloak?'

'That is for concealment within the wizarding world, and to enable you to follow Harry, or anyone else, without being seen, so that you can write about what happens. Having said that, please respect people's privacy, not everything needs to be told in books.'

Jessie nodded. 'You can trust me!'

Dumbledore smiled. 'I'm sure I can. As to the matter of making sure that nobody knows about our agreement, especially the minister, I shall perform some complicated magic on the copyright side to your books, so that no person of magical blood, or anyone who is in any contact with someone of magical blood, will be able to see or speak of the plot. This will work as well on anything to do with the media side - films for example, or merchandise, and will completely repel those in contact with magic.'

Jessie nodded once more, and helped herself to another ham sandwich. 'Sounds like a good plan,' she said, 'anything else I need to know?'

Dumbledore shook his head. 'I don't think so… Now, you must know Harry's story before you can start this job, however, I am late to the start of term feast, and my presence is required. You may come down with me, under the cloak, and practise discreet observations. Afterwards we will return to my office and resume this discussion. Agreed?' He held out his hand, and Jessie didn't hesitate.

'Agreed,' she said with a smile, giving it a firm shake…

The telephone rang shrilly, startling Jessie from her dreaming. 'Stupid, stupid Jessie!' she groaned to herself again, rising from the sofa to reach for the phone. 'Not to use the time turner for your own personal needs was a perfectly reasonable thing to ask, yet you forgot all about it… Now look what you've ended up doing!'


End file.
